Skip to main content

Full text of "TPUG Newsletter Issue 24"

See other formats 


Ill I I I I 



^Cv«]l 



AN AUTHORIZED COMMODORE SYSTEM DEALER SINCE 1979 




• New Products 
constantly arriving 

• If a product is available 

We have it 

• All hardware in stock 
at all times 

• Full service 




aKHORK^ 2001 LTD. 



Name _ 
Address 



J Check or money order enclosed □ Visa □ MasterCard □ Amex 
Acct.* Exp Date Signature 



5529 Yonge Street, Willowdale, Ontario M2N 5S3 

Tel: (416) 229-2700 

Note: All prices In Canadian Funds. Phone and mail orders weicome. 

Ontario residents add 7% sales tax. 

Add 5% for shipping (minimum charge $4.00) 

Sma^ .auk 10% discount for TPUG members on regular 

V '"^ ,11^ priced software, accessories and magazines. 



TFUS Hagasiis 



Publisher: Bruce Hampson 

Editor: Nick Sullivan 

Assistant Editors: Tim Granlham 

Adam Herst 
Production Ivfanager Astrid Kumas 
Editorial/Production Assistant: Iwona Sukienmk 
AdverV'sing Sales: John Matheson 
Cover Illustration: Thorn K,. Wu 
Creative Direction (Cover): Steve MacDowall 
Cover Scan and Assembly: LK Grapiiics 
Typesetting: Noesis. Toronto 
Printed in Canada by: Delta Web Graphics 
Scarborough, Ontario 

TPUG Magazine is published 10 times a year by 
TPUG Inc. All rights to materiai published in TPUG 
l\/lagazine are reserved by TPUG Inc.. and no 
material may be reprinted witnout written permis- 
sion ekcept where specilicalty staled. 

Correspondence: Send change of address and 
subscription enquiries to; TPUG Inc.. Addrew 
Changes, 101 Duncan Mill Road. Suite G7, Don 
Mills, ON, Canada M3B 1Z3. TPUG Magazine 
welcomes freelance contributions on alt aspects of 
Commodore computing. Contributions should be 
sent on disk, though accompanying hardcopy is 
welcome. Be sure to include return postage if you 
wish materials returned- Please indicate on the disk 
label which Commodore disk format and word pro- 
cessing program you have used. Payment for art- 
icles published is $30.00 per page if the author re- 
tains the copyright, and $40.00 per page if the . 
copyright is assigned to TPUG Magazine. Payment 
is made on publication. Ail contributions are sub- 
ject to editing for length and readability. Address 
editorial contributions and related correspondence 
!o: The Editors. TPUG Magazine, 101 Duncan Mill 
Road, Suite G7, Don Mis. ON. Canada M3B 1Z3, 



Newsstand: 10,000 



Circulation 
Subscription: 12,000 
ISSN #0825-0367 

VIC 20, Commodore 64 and SuperPET are 
trademarks of Commodore Electronics Ltd. PET Is 
.a registered trademark of Commodore Business 
Machines inc. CBM is a registered trademark of 
Commodore Electronics Ltd. 

Subscriptions to TPUG Magazine may be obtained 
by joining the Toronto PET Users' Group (TPUG) 
Inc. 

Regular member {attends meetings) $35.00 Cdn. 
Student (full-time, attends meetings) $25.00 Cdn. 
" " $25.00 Cdn. 

$25.00 U.S. 

$30.00 Cdn. 

$35.00 U.S. 

S45.00 U.S. . 



Associate (Canada) 
Associate (U.S.) 

Associate (Overseas — sea mail) 
Associate (Overseas — air mail), 



For further membership information . please contact: 

TPUG Inc. Membership Information 

lot Duncan Mill Road 1552 Hertel Avenue 

Suite G7 Suite 144 

Don Mis, ON Buffalo, NY 

Canada M3B1Z3 ;: USA 14216 

TPUG Telephone Numbers 
Business Office (416)-445-4524 
Magazine Office (416)-445-4524 
Advertising Sales (4 16)-44 5-4524 



DIRECTORY 



66 



TPUG Magazine 



#24 



Feature: Commodore's Orphon Computers 

4 Bargains or Paperweights? by Mikios Garamszeghy 
Orphans by Jim Sutterfleld 
Expand Your VIC by Ronald Byers 
Orphon Updote by David Bradley 
Proteao's D- 128/8050/4032 System by Arthur Klinger 
Solving the Plus/4 RS232 Mystery by Jim Grubbs 
I was Blind, But Now I Con C by Robert W. Dray 

Articles 

16 A Layman's Guide to Burst Mode: Port 2 
by Mikios Garamszeghy 
The 1 526/MPS 802 Printer by Ranjan Bose 
Fun With Function Keys by Mikios Garamszeghy 
Amiga Dispatches by Tim Grantham 
ESCape G 2 by Adam Herst 

Micro Processes 

28 Tronslote Thing' by Phil Kemp 

The MSD: A ReopproisQl by Sean Rooney 
Expansion Port Extender by Richard N. Dawson 
Reducing Static Shocl^ by James M. Ardovltch 
Cortridge COMAL Emulation by Victor Gough 
Merging Program Files by Mikios Garamszeghy 
Watch Thot Notch! by Karl Thurber 

Reviews 

36 Mochl 26 by Adam Herst 
Carrier Force by Dave Dempster 
Super-G Printer Interface by Greg Payne 
Broadsides by Dave Dempster 
VIC 20 Storter Book by Roger Burge 
The Commodore Horn's Companion by A. Vic Forde 
Koronis l^ift by Thomas Jones 
Poperbock Writer 64 by Ian A. Wright 
Poperbock Writer 1 28 by Greg Payne 

Deportments 

2 Inside Information 

3 The Answer Desk with Maicolm O'Brien 
1 5 Marketplace 

21 BBS Password for May and June 

33 Products Received by Astrid Kumas 

34 Additions to the TPUG Software Library 

37 TPUG Softwore Order Form 
46 Calendar of TPUG Events 

46 Unclossifieds 

47 Bulletin Board 

48 TPUG Mogozine Distributors 
48 TPUG Contocts 

48 Index of Advertisers 



6 

6 

9 

10 

14 

16 



21 
22 
24 
26 



29 
30 
30 
31 
31 
32 



38 
39 
40 
40 
41 
41 
42 
44 



Inside Information 



This month 

In this issue we take a look at Com- 
modore's orphans (and I don't mean 
Michael Tomczyk). The paths this in- 
dustry has followed are strewn with the 
carcasses of abandoned computers. Com- 
modore can legitimately be considered an 
old timer in the world of personal com- 
puters, and has contributed its share to 
this litter: many Commodore users are 
users of machines that are known collec- 
tively as orphayis. 

Owners of VIC 20s, C-16s and B-128s 
know all about what it means to use an 
orphaned computer. Software and infor- 
mation are next to impossible to obtain 
from regular outlets, and a stigma is at- 
tached to admitting that you use these 
computers. To make up for these 
obstacles, orphaned users are forced to 
group together for support and expend 
greater effort in learning their com- 
puters. If you want to use an orphaned 
computer then you had better be 
prepared to DIY (do it yourself). 

In contrast, users of 'popular' com- 
puters, such as the C-64, enjoy extensive 
commercial support in the form of widely- 
available, sophisticated software. Using 
your computer is merely a matter of go- 
ing to K-Mart or Toys-R-Us to pick up the 
latest package. The day will come, 
however, when the trip to TRU will 
reveal nothing but Atari ST and C-128 
software. What position will 64 owners 
be in then? 

Orphanism is definitely a state of mind. 
Whether these computers remain useful 
or are relegated to doorstop duty is en- 
tirely up to the user, as Jim Butterfietd 
and Miklos Garamszeghy point out in 
their articles in this issue. A humorous 
look at the same topic is provided care of 
David Bradley. An evaluation of the 
B-128 by Arthur Winger gives the lie to 
the idea that orphaned computers are 
necessarily technologically inferior. 

The future of orphaned computers lies 
with the support given to them by users. 
New software and even hardware im- 
provements are not unheard of. The 
machines continue to be productive, given 
this support, and can even be adopted in- 
to a new, current computer family. One 
of the most successful of these adoptions 
must surely be the implementation of 
OS-9 on the Super PET computers. In his 
article, Robert Dray tells the story a 

2 Issue 24 



newcomer to the Super-OS/9 system. 
Other rescues are also possible. Expand- 
ing the VIC by 24K goes a long way 
towards extending its usefulness and the 
procedure to effect this expansion is 
detailed in this issue by Ronald Byers. 

The Amigan 

Last month we ran a review of 
AmigaBASIC by Dick Barnes, whom we 
represented as the editor/publisher of the 
highly-respected SuperPET Gazette, one 
of the leading sources of information for 
the owners of that orphaned computer. 
Sadly, Dick has been forced to discon- 
tinue the SuperPET Gazette as of the July 
issue. In its place, however, he has 
launched The Amigan, a newsletter 
devoted to all aspects of the Amiga com- 
puter. We have seen the first issue, and 
it looks every bit as comprehensive and 
informative as its seminal predecessor. If 
you own an Amiga, this is a publication 
you won't want to miss. To subscribe 
from Canada or the States, send a che- 
que for $24.00 (US), made out to 'The 
Amigans'. The address is P.O. Box 411, 
Hatteras, North Carolina 27943, USA. 

TPUG online 

In keeping with its involvement in all 
aspects of Commodore computing, TPUG 
maintained a presence online on the Com- . 



puServe Information Service. This 
association has recently been terminated, 
and TPUG has moved to the friendlier 
pastures of the Delphi service. Along with 
the usual program libraries and informa- 
tion exchange, keep your eyes and 
modems open for TPUG Magazine 
Online. To reach the TPUG SIG, type 
GRoups at the Delphi Main prompt, then 
FLagship Commodore at the Groups 
prompt. 

TPUG Magazifie's online presence 
doesn't stop with Delphi, however. The 
new TPUG Magazine BBS is now up and 
running on our resident Amiga. Although 
our BBS is intended primarily for use by 
our authors, limited access is also 
available to readers. The number to dial 
is: (416) 445-0105. If you don't Hke what 
we are doing (and especially if you do), 
let us know how you feel . Line Noise let- 
ters and Answer Desk questions can also 
be directed to us through this BBS. 

Stiil to come 

Next month we take a look at one of the 
most popular types of simulation for 
microcomputers — flight simulators. This 
feature will cover available software, 
as well as some of the theory and pro- 
gramming that goes into these products. 

The editors D 




The Answer Desk 



with Malcolm O'Brien 



If you have a question for The 
Aiiswer Desk, write to us at: 

Ariswer Desk 

TPUG Magazine 

101 Duncan Mill Road, Suite G7 

Don Mills, Ontario MsB IZS 

Canada 



ADM-31 terminal emulation 

I have found an annoying bug in CP/M 
mode on the C-128. The cursor-left key 
uses the same control code (CTRL-S) as 
the ADM-31 code for suspending screen 
display. In programs like Wordstar, 
dBase II and especially CalcStar that use 
the cursor-left keys, cursor -left will 
sometimes cause the machine to lock up. 
The lock-up appears to be random and 
may have something to do with the pro- 
gram not disabling the interrupts before 
reading the keyboard. The computer can 
only be unlocked by immediately typing 
in CTRL-Q, the ADM-31 code to resume 
screen display. Has anyone else found 
this? 

Miklos Garamszeghy, 
Toronto, Ontario. 

The following reply comes from Assistant 
Editor, Tim Grantham: 

"It is my understanding that the 
upgrade to CP/M for the C-ISS now drives 
the keyboard with interrupts, hopefully 
eliminating the problem. Adam Herst has 
brought in the upgrade as an addition to 
the TPUG library. The BIOS upgrade is 
available on CP/M disk (Z)AA. Give it a 
try and see what happens." 

CP/M, as implemented on the 
C-128/1571 combination, is likely to open 
up a whole new world to CP/M and IBM 
users as well as to Commodore u.sers. The 
folhunng remarks from Miklos imll serve 
to give you an idea of the possibilities: 

"I also have programs to convert ISil 
BASIC files into CP/M files and vice ver- 
sa. I also have one for the IBM-PC which 
converts PC-DOS files into CP/M-86 for- 
mat which can be read on the 1571 . Using 
this you can exchange text, data and even 
program files (if you know what you are 
doing) between a C-1S8 and an IBM-PC. 



This is how I copied my CP/M software 
from 8-inch disk format to 15il format Ris- 
ing an IBM-PC as a middle step. " 

It would seem that Commodore has 
bounced hack from the C-6Jf CP/M fiasco 
by providing C-128 iisers with the com- 
paratively friendly operating environ- 
ment of CP/M Plus — especially now that 
the BIOS has been upgraded. 

Superpet APL listings 

In addition to a dozen PETs, our school 
has a Commodore SuperPET on which 
we run Waterloo micro APL. Our system 
also comprises the Commodore 8250 dual 
disk drive, and Epson HX-80 F/T printer, 
and a Commodore 8023P tractor printer. 
I very much need to print the APL pro- 
grams displayed on the SuperPET screen 
to paper but am unable to do so at pre- 
sent. I understand special software is 
necessary to form the APL characters on 
a dot-matrix printer. Can you suggest a 
source for such software? Is there a 
SuperPET users group? Can you suggest 
ways to accomplish such a task? Thank 
you for your help. 

Mitchell Johnson, 

Endicott, NY. 

To answer your question, I consulted 
TPUG stalwart Tom Shevlin who aho 
tises an MX-80 with APL. It is Tom's 
understanding that there were three ver- 
sions of the MX-80. His is a modified ver- 
sion two. which includes an APL 
character generator. This character 
generator is an Epson product but it may 
7wt still be availal>le. You'll need to make 
enquiry to Epson on that front. 

Tom suggested two other possibilities. 
The first is to repeatedly redefine and 
print the MX-SO's user-defined character. 
The second one is probably better and in- 
volves using the 8023P printer in graphics 
mode. Software for this purpose -is avail- 
able from the TPUG SuperPET library 
or from the International SuperPET 
Users Group. Here's the address of the 
latter: 

Dick Barnes 
ISPUG 
P.O. Box Jfll 
Hatteras, NC 
2794S 

Membership in ISPUG is a very 
reasonable $1S (US). Their newsletter is 



a veritable gold mine for SuperPET users 
and Tom reports that they are beginning 
to give coverage to the Amiga as well. 

Printer problem 

I am using Magic Desk 1 Type and File 
and the Traitex International 4.0 word 

processor with an Epson FX-85 printer 
and the CO 64 interface board. The prob- 
lem occurs when I want another copy of 
the same text, or if I use single sheets. 
At that time the printer stops at the end 
of a page and waits for the command to 
continue. When it does continue, the last 
few lines of the previous page are printed 
on the following page. Finally, the printer 
stops just two lines before the end. I 
pushed the ON-LINE button repeatedly 
but nothing happens. I have to turn the 
printer off and back on. Do I have to clear 
the buffer at the end of each page? This 
doesn't seem very practical. 

Raoul A. Blouin, 
Granby, PQ. 

/ had similar strange results at first with 
my Homewriter. The reason was fairly 
simple: The paper-eTid detector was tnp- 
ped before I finished printing my lines. 
This took the printer off-line and it 
wouldn't go back on-liTie with no paper 
available. Turning the printer off will en- 
sure that it loses its memory (and your 
margins and tabs along ivith it). There are 
two solutions: The first is to set the paper- 
end detector DIP smtck off. If you use this 
method, be careful — do not print on the 
platen! Printing on the platen will 
degrade its 'grabby ' surface resulting in 
slippage and inconsistent line feeds. 

The secomd solution is better. On my 
Homewriter there is a DIP switch to select 
11- or 12-inch paper. By selecting 12-inch 
you can print a full page (1-inch bottom 
margin) on an 11-inch page. TTiis way, aU 
stops in printing are controlled by the 
word processor. This is what we want to 
achieve. 

I notice that Epson has suggested that 
you ensure that skip-over-perforation and 
sheet feeder modes are both off and that 
you should set the form length to 66 lines 
(this corresponds to an 11-inch page). 
Definitely defeat the skip and feeder 
modes but try setting form length to 77 
lines (12-inch page). This should keep 
things neat and pretty. Thanks for send- 
ing print samples. These are always 
helpful. 



TPUG Magazine 3 



Computer Orphans: 
Bargains or Paperweights? 



by M. Garamszeghy 

Copyright © 1986 M. Garamszeghy 

A computer orphan can be loosely defined 
as a machine which is no longer manufac- 
tured or supported by its original maker . 
Many people avoid them like the plague, 
but I rather like them. Consider this: all 
computers will eventually become or- 
phaned. In fact, computer technology is 
such a fast growing area that computer 
hardware is often obsolete before it even 
leaves the factory! 

Family history 

Electronic computers are barely forty 
years old and desk-top microcomputers 
are not even into their teens yet. The first 
all-electronic calculating machine was 
built in the mid 1940's by J. Mauchly and 
J.P. Eckert of the University of Penn- 
sylvania for the U.S. War Department to 
calculate ballistic trajectory tables. Dubb- 
ed ENIAC (for Electronic Numerical In- 
tegrator And Calculator), the device con- 
sisted of about 18,000 vacuum tubes, fill- 
ed several large rooms and consimied 
enough electricity (120 kilowatts) to 
power a modern city block. ENIAC was 
externally programmed by connecting 
wires in certain patterns and was fed in- 
put on punched tape. It operated at 
speeds a thousand times faster than any 
mechanical calculating machine then in 
existence: 5000 instructions per second. 
By comparison, today's computers 
operate in MIPS (Millions of Instructions 
Per Second), 

Despite the incredible achievement for 
its time, ENIAC's computing power was 
equivalent to less than a basic VIC 20! 
Computer technology has raced forward 
.at an enormous pace with the birth of the 
transistor in the 1950's and large scale 
integrated circuits in the 1970's and 
1980's. The course has not been an easy 
one, however. Many computers (all 'state 
of the art' in their day) and many com- 
puter companies were left for dead along 
the way. 'The current crop of 16-bit and 
32-bit based micros (such as the Amiga, 
Atari ST, and IBM-RT) are probably as 
far ahead of the VIC 20 as the VIC 20 was 
ahead of ENIAC. 



Adopting an orphan 

Does this obsolescence make the VIC 20 
a useless paperweight? I think not. The 
benefits of purchasing any orphan com- 
puter can easily outweigh the perceived 
drawbacks. The chief advantage is the 
low cost of hardware and software for the 
machine. Most orphaned hardware is dis- 
counted to a small fraction of its original 
price because retailers want to get rid of 
it to make room for the 'new' stuff. When 
the VIC 20 was first released, it was a 
technological marvel : all that computing 
power, and colour too, for only a few hun- 
dred dollars. Several months later, Com- 
modore announced that it was dropping 
the VIC 20 from its product line. Almost 
immediately, the price plummeted, with 
some going for about thirty dollars! (Odd- 
ly enough, they are now selling in the $50 
to $100 range at some mass market 
retailers. Maybe demand for them is in- 
creasing again.) Expansion boards and 
other VIC 20 peripherals also dropped 
dramatically in price. If you can still find 
them, memory expansion modules are 
selling for less than the cost of the RAM 
chips you would need to build your own! 

Software and documentation can be 
even cheaper. I recently bought new, 
unopened VIC 20 software that original- 
ly sold for over $40 for under a dollar 
from the discount bin at a local retailer. 
The programming guides for the VIC 20 
are invaluable for beginners because they 
are written in a style that even the 
greenest of novices can understand. And 
although introductory manuals are usual- 
ly machine specific, the basic computer 
concepts and jargon contained therein are 
usually applicable to any machine. (For 
comparison, witness the blank stare when 
a first time user tries to read the so-called 
'introductory' manuals for the IBM-PC.) 

If you want oodles of the latest soft- 
ware, then don't buy an orphan. Once a 
machine is orphaned, the commercial 
software publishers will drop it from their 
supported product line like a hot potato; 
ditto for third party hardware manufac- 
turers. Fortunately, the VIC 20 can use 
much of the hardware designed for cur- 
rent machines — printers, modems, disk 



drives, and so on. Machines like the Texas 
Instruments 99/ 4A and the Coleco Adam 
were not so lucky: they are not just or- 
phans, but "only children" as well, unable 
to share peripherals with more popular 
sibling models. 

Some high quality software is still 
available for most orphans long after the 
manufacturer has pronounced the 
machine dead and buried. The best source 
of this software is often the libraries of 
user groups, such as TPUG. There is 
nobody more tenacious or blindly loyal 
than a group of a\'id computer users once 
their machines have been declared or- 
phans by the powers that be. If there is 
a large enough owmership base , you are 
ensured of continuity of software. Most 
users enjoy writing new software for or- 
phans simply because no one else may be 
doing it. 

Happy and productive 

I have seen VIC 20's and other orphan- 
ed computers put to very ingenious use 
because they were cheap and easy to 
operate. For example, the local outlet of 
a large department store chain uses VIC 
20's and colour TV's to advertise in -store 
specials. The displays are bright, colour- 
ful and easy to read because of the large 
characters of the VIC 20. The messages 
are easy to program and update on a 
regular basis; it only takes a couple of 
BASIC print statements! 

A factory I once toured, just outside 
Scran ton, Pennsylvania, was using a half- 
dozen Sinclair ZX-81's to control its 
weather monitoring station. The task had 
been previously performed by the plant's 
minicomputer. As the engineering staff 
grew, there was no extra computer 
capacity to rim the weather station. Ad- 
ding more capacity would have cost 
several tens of thousands of dollars. With 
a few home brew adaptors, however, and 
some ZX-Sl's bought from a local jobber 
for about $10 each, one of the plant 
engineers created a better system than 
the one run by the minicomputer. The 
ZX-81 is a very compact computer (about 
the size of a paperback book) that can be 
stashed almost anywhere and can run 



4 Issue 24 



from batteries for long periods of time. 
This made it ideal for remote locations. 

The above examples are perfect il- 
lustrations of a saying that a professor 
of mine was found of repeating: "You 
don't need a chauffeur -driven limousine 
to cross the street if you can do it on roller 
skates". In other words, you may not 
need the latest and greatest computer to 
get the job done. 

Because of their low cost, orphans can 
be a great training tool for youngsters 
and adults alike. My VIC 20 had not seen 
much use since I got my C-128. At the 
same time, my mother-in-law and recent- 
ly retired father-in-law felt that the elec- 
tronic revolution was passing them by. 
They jumped at the chance to borrow my 
'old' computer. Within weeks, 'my old 
computer' had become 'their computer'. 
Similarly, my brother recently bought the 
orphaned C-16 (it was very cheap he tells 
me). Wliile he is more in tune with com- 
puter technology than many people I 
know, I wouldn't call him an expert. Now 
he is rapidly learning what can and can- 
not be done \vith a microcomputer. In ad- 
dition, his four year old daughter is 
fascinated by it and plays with it con- 
stantly. VIC 20's are very popular with 
grade school computer classes for the 
same reasons that many 'serious' users 
despise them. The displays are bright and 
colourful, with large easy-to-read 
characters. The keyboard can be used 
with little trouble by most children and 
is virtually indestructible, a boon when 
working with young kids. 

If your perception of computers comes 
from watching old Star Trek episodes, 
then you could be in for a shock when you 
try your first session with a real com- 
puter. Several people I know have bought 
expensive MS-DOS type computers. 
(Everyone has them, they tell me, so we 
bought one too). It took one of them 
several weeks and repeated phone calls 
to a frustrated salesman ("What is a boot 
disk?") to figure out how to start it up. 
Tlie manuals almost require a Ph.D. in 
computer science to read; they are total- 
ly baffling to a novice. Consequently, my 
friends hardly ever use these wonderful 
machines. Now I ask you, who owns the 
bargain and who owns the paperweight? 

Other bargains can be had in obsolete 
peripherals. I bought my printer, which 
many people would describe as a clunky 
old daisywheel, for less than a third of the 
price of comparable ones on the market 
at the time. How? It was obsolete because 
the 'standard' for daisywheels of that 
type (pun intended) was 18 characters per 
second with boldface, subscripts, and 



superscripts. Mine printed a mere 12 
characters per second without the fancy 
print styles, none of which I needed: in 
other words, a perfectly useable letter- 
quality printer at a bargain price. It has 
served me well for many years, printing 
articles like this one. My monochrome 
video monitor (for the 80 column mode 
of my C-128) was bought at a surplus 
store for about $25. Admittedly, it had an 
open chassis with no cabinet (I built one 
out of an old black and white TV of the 
same size and some plywood), but with a 
20 MHz bandwidth, it works as well as 
or better than 'new' ones selling for five 
times the price. 

Foster roster 

There are some serious considerations to 
make before deciding to buy an orphan 
computer. {Most of these factors apply 
equally to the latest models). The first is 
usefulness. Is the computer and its 
available software capable of doing what 
you want it to do? Is there reasonable 
room for growth without expensive hard- 
ware additions? Are you able to write 
your own programs or adapt programs 
from other machines when you can no 
longer find commercial ones? 

The second consideration is hardware 
compatibility. Is expansion hardware still 
available? Will hardware built for similar 
machines work, with little or no modifica- 
tion? Can you build your own custom 
hardware? The VIC 20 can use most, but 
not all, of the hardware designed for the 
C-64 and C-128. However, anything that 
plugs into the expansion port is not com- 
patible, either physically or electronical- 
ly. Although physically compatible, the 
expansion port on the P1ue/4 and C-16 is 
not electronically compatible with the one 
on the C-64. In addition, their tape port 
and joystick ports are different from the 
C-64 'standard', thus joysticks, tape 
drives and most printer interfaces require 
at least minor electrical modification 
before they will work. Most of the hard- 
ware for the newer PETs can also be used 
on the older ones as well. 

The third consideration is the life 
history of the machine. Had it had a 
reasonably long and useful life before con- 
signment to the orphanage? Or was it 
dead before it hit the market? If a 
machine has a large enough user base, 
both technical and moral support for it 
amongst users and user groups will con- 
tinue for long after it has been dropped 
by the commercial concerns. Was the 
machine relatively bug free? Or was it 
dropped because it had more bugs than 
the local swamp? 



The final consideration is price. Is the 
price significantly lower than that for 
'new' machines of similar type? Do the 
replacement models represent a signifi- 
cant change? Or is the only difference a 
minor cosmetic one? (I am told that black 
computer equipment is out, and grey and 
tan are in.) Obviously, each decision is a 
very personal one and one person's ideal 
machine might be in someone else's junk 
pile. 

In short, if you feel comfortable with 
an orphan, like its price and can get or 
write software to make it do what you 
want, or if you simply want to try your 
hand at computers, then by all means buy 
it. If after a while you discover that you 
need a more advanced machine, congrat- 
ulations! Pass the orphan along to some- 
one else or keep it for playing games. 
Your only loss is the small cost of the 
orphan, but in the mean time you have 
gained an enormous amount of hands-on 
experience. 

On the other hand, if your main intent 
is to keep up with the Jones' or to have 
a high-tech conversation piece, then buy 
that top of the line model. But remember, 
your top of the line machine will eventual- 
ly become an orphan, and maybe sooner 
than you think. You may just be buying 
yourself an even more expensive 
paperweight. D 



cnmp-u-TEmp 

ATARI 800/XL. 130XE. & COMMODORE 64 




TEMPERATURE MONITORING AND 
DATA ACQUiSlTrON SYSTEM 



FEATURES jncludi display of 8 Of 16 t«m))«rature 
channeli, ran^ of 15*F id +iaO°F at mpprox. 1 
d«gree rvsolutian, «l«tranic int«r1tc* pluot dirsctly^ 
into 1h9 joYtlJ'C't port, vwiathtir prottciad uniarT. 
mvnu^drivin loftwart capible of 1 1 ) Ifb^l mg wnsor 
iDcitioni (2)' MJaciing high or low alarm i«l pnjn(i 
I3J| hardcopy printouts {A) Hfaction of djta lamplti 
l^me intarvsJi for fllj channels {15 »Eondt lo 4 houril 
{5) recordinfl tumpflratgra data todi^ loptJonBlj. 

VERSION 1.D e Channel S99.95 

Include^ 2 sensors, softkvare, electronic inieHace, 
and hard copy 

VERSION 2.0 eChann«l S119.M 

Includes 2 senjors, (ofrware, elcctfonlc interface, 
hard copv. and tiaia $iorage lo and from disk 

VEf!SiON3.0 leChaonol 5179.95 

Includes 4 sensors, sofiware, electronic ini&rfflCe, 
hard copy, and data storage to and from disk 
Additional sensors (Eschl 55.75 



Appliad Technologies. Inc. 



^.umpuitfr r-roaucis UIV. 

Lyndon Way. Kittary, ME 039O4 
M/C - VISA accepted (207) 439-5074 

U.S. Dapl. of En«rgv Award for Envrgy tnnovalion. 
Dealer & Disuibulor Inquiries Invited 



TPUG Magazine 5 



Orphans 



by Jim Butterfield 

Copyright © 1986 Jim Butterfield. Per- 
mission to reprint is hereby granted, pro- 
vided this notice is incltided in the 
reprinted material. 

There are many microcomputers which 
are orphans. They have lost their support 
en\'ironment , and while the machines 
themselves may continue to work, users 
feel — to a greater or lesser extent — 
'cast adrift'. 

It's nice to be in the mainstream. It's 
handy to have a dealer on every city 
block; to be able to visit a bookstore and 
find plenty of books about your machine; 
to have a large body of fellow-users to ex- 
change information and programs with. 
But if your machine is one that was 
discontinued, or didn't catch on, you don't 
get this type of support. In that case , your 
computer is an orphan, and so are you; 
you'll need to make your way almost by 
yourself. 

Most of the very first microcomputers 
— old-timers may remember brand 
names such as Scelbi, MITS Altair, and 
SOL — have lapsed into oblivion. More 
recent brands have had good user play — 
remember Osborne, Texas Instruments 
TI-99, and Sinclair? — only to be discon- 
tinued and fade from the scene. Even 
where a manufacturer is still in business, 
early purchasers may find themselves 
stranded. Remember the do-it-yourself 
Apple I, the Lisa, the TRS-80 model 2, 
or the Atari 400? Even the same model 
can change radically: a programmer 
would find a marked change from the 
original Apple II (with integer BASIC) to 
a contemporary Apple lie; and the 
TRS-80 model 1 has little in common with 
the TRS-80 CoCo (except perhaps that 
both machines were available with at 
least two incompatible BASIC implemen- 
tations). Even where the name's almost 
the same, you can be orphaned with a 
machine from the wrong generation. 

Commodore is no exception. It has had 
a series of computers, many of which are 
no longer in production, and some of 
which are clearly orphans. Nonetheless, 
there's more in common across the line 
of machines that stretches from the PET 
2001 (1976) to the Commodore 128 (1985) 
than is the case with many other 
manufacturers. All machines use essen- 
tially the same BASIC and the same 

6 Issue 24 



machine language, although this does not 
ensure compatibility. The Amiga is a com- 
plete break with tradition, of course. 

Let's look at some of the old machines 
that now may be classified as orphans 
because Commodore has discontinued 
them. They will run for a long time, and 
they will have many programs available. 
But. . . if they're not made, they're go- 
ing to fade. 

The original PET 2001 had a tiny 
keyboard , 8K of memory and a problem 
with the keyboard (unless you managed 
to change the old Oil ROM for a cor- 
rected 019). The cassette deck was built 
in; but a logic error meant that a disk 
couldn't be fitted — unless you switched 
your ROM set to the ' Upgrade' version . 
The keyboard had an odd upper/lower 
case reversal which enraged touch typists 
(if they weren't already mad about the 
tiny keyboard); and there was some 
screen snow. Still, a nice machine wnth 
screen editing, still capable of running 
many BASIC programs written today. 

The 'Upgrade ROM' machine (some- 
times called ROM 2.0 and sometimes 
BASIC 3) could use a disk drive and had 
a number of improvements. Then came 
the 4.0 machines. Here's where the 
PET/CBM hit its stride. Many versions 
were released, some with 40 column 
screens, some with 80; and good logic, in- 
cluding DOS commands. The whole fam- 
ily used the moderately fast IEEE -488 
bus to connect to disk drive and printer. 

Some special orphans: the Super PET, 
wth dual processors (6502 and 6809), lots 



of extra RAM, and custom languages pro- 
vided by Waterloo University; and the 
8096, which also had extra RAM but map- 
ped in a different way. A limited amount 
of specialized software emerged which 
exploited the extra capabilities of these 
machines, and they were wonderful — 
word processors that allowed g. huge 
document to be written to RAM, and 
spreadsheets with massive capacity. A 
restyled 8096 later emerged as the 8296; 
in this case, software was included as part 
of the package. 

The VIC 20, first of the colour 
machines, was bargain priced, had limited 
memory, but all in all was a pleasing 
machine — Commodore's first mass 
market computer. 

All the above machines enjoyed success 
in the marketplace to a greater or lesser 
degree. All are now discontinued. But 
now we'll mention the hard cases: the 
machines that never got market 
acceptance. 

The Plus/4 and its junior cousin, the 
Commodore 16, were nicely designed 
machines. The 16 had some serious limita- 
tions, but the Plus/4 was a joy to work 
with in many ways, and I still pine for 
features not seen on other machines. In 
particular, the ACIA chip made com- 
munications a snap. Wanna pour stuff off 
disk and onto a phone line? It's a clumsy 
job on the 64 or 128, but there's no in- 
terlock on the Plus/4 — you just move the 
data on through. It could have been the 
great bulletin board machine of all time. 
And the screen colours! Not until the 




,//,■///•/, ■Y//yy^y^//'/'/'//'/'^/'^y^ fyiw^j/.'v^j's*. 



The 

ultimate 

orphan 

computer 



Amiga was there anything like it. Ajid it 
had most of the BASIC features that 128 
users rave about. 

But Commodore pitched these 
machines at a price that the marketplace 
didn't lii<e, and fitted the Plus/4 with a 
built-in demonstrator program that made 
the machine look slow and stupid . . . and 
these machines faded away. They are still 
seen in discount houses, premium sales, 
and countries outside North America. 
But. . . if you own a PJus/4 or a Com- 
modore 16, you own an orphan. 

The B-128 was part of a serious plan 
by Commodore to design a series of new 
business machines. By the time they got 
the bugs cleared away (it took years), the 
machines were obsolescent; they contain- 
ed too many chips for ciu-rent market 
pricing. They made it to market in 
Europe (where they are known as the 700 
series), but in North America they ended 
up being unloaded through discount 
houses (mainly Protecto Enterprises) at 
a bargain price — but also an orphan 
price. There was a marvellous colour 
cousin, the C machine, which was never 
available; but due to a curious set of hap- 
penings, a very few users managed to get 
their hands on them and refused to give 
them back when Commodore recalled 
them. 



Not just computers are orphans, of 
course. We could discuss orphan disk 
drives, orphan printers, orphan modems, 
and even orphan cassette drives. Their 
status can be especially vexing: you can 
often still get them repaired, but it's hard 
to know which is more difficult , dispos- 
ing of one or getting one. 

Is an orphan all alone? Not by a long 
shot. There are special interest groups, 
program libraries, newsletters and other 
aids for users who might otherwise feel 
isolated. It's hard to do much at retailers: 
books , software and hardware don't stay 
in stock for long. But there are other 
sources and sometimes mail order houses 
do well supporting a product that might 
be classed as 'inactive'. 

Then again, there are people who seek 
out orphans. They like to choose their 
own pathways and would be annoyed by 
a highly popular machine where it seems 
that everything has been done already. 
Such people often get a more rounded 
view of their computer system since they 
have to do everything themselves: hard- 
ware, programming, interfacing and 
repairs. They can feel that they are 
pioneering in their own area. 

Of course, if you're the ultimate orphan 

— you have the only machine of its kind 

— you must do it all yourself. And when 



you do achieve success on a project, say 
in writing a program, you have nobody 
with whom to share the results . There's 
nobody to brag to, nobody to applaud . . . 
you must derive satisfaction simply from 
the knowledge that you've accomplished 
what you set out to do. 

Sometimes it can be satisfying to be a 
'small group' orphan. You get to know 
the users in your SIG much better than 
would be the case with the massive group 
that gathers around a highly successful 
machine. 

So choose your own style. If the 
machine you are using is discontinued, 
you don't need to abandon it. Chances are 
there will be many years of discovery that 
can be spent on your computer and many 
people to share your findings with. And 
you can save money by not leaping to 
every new computer that comes along. 

On the other hand, many of us can't 
bear to see others with a newer, shinier 
machine than the one we've got. You just 
have to leap in when the new machine ar- 
rives with those extra features. 

But it's hard to give up the old com- 
puter. And some of us, determined to 
take on the new without giving up the old, 
end up with whole collections of com- 
puters. In that case, I suppose we're 
starting. . . an orphanage. D 



Super-OS/9* Is Here 



TPUG has implemented the popular 6809 operating 
system OS-9* on the SuperPET. Super-OS/9 greatly 
expands the software availability and the hardvi'are 
capability of the SuperPET while preserving access 
to the Waterloo languages and programs. 

The cost of Super-OS/9 to club members is $210 
(Cdn) (plus $10 shipment/handling Ontario residents 
add 7% PST), which includes the cost of a hardware 
modification that will not affect the normal operation 
of your SuperPET, installation instructions and the 
operating system disks. 

To obtain your copy please send your cheque or 
money order to: 

TPUG 

101 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite G-7 

Don Mills, Ontario 

Canada MSB 1Z3 

What does Super-OS/9 offer? 

• A true disk operating system with features found on 
UNIX* systems and on the AMIGA. 

• Multi-tasking and multi-user capability. 

• Hierarchical director^' structure with time/date stamps. 

• Programmable file access privileges for increased 
security. 

Extensive software is available for OS-9, most 
of which runs on Super-OS/9. 



Super-OS/9 VI. 1 includes an assembler, editor, 
symbolic debugger, communication software and ter- 
minal emulation package. Available languages include 
BASIC09, CIS COBOL, Fortran 77, Pascal, Lisp, C 
and others. Application software include wordproces- 
sors, spelling checkers, data bases and spread sheet 
programs. 

TPUG has acquired public domain software and 
will assist users in the conversion of commercial soft- 
ware to Commodore format. 

Portability and Expandability 

• Super-OS/9 programs wilt run on all OS-9 based 
computers (like the CoCo). 

• Super-OS/9 will support standard disk drives (IBM 
format) and the Hi-res graphics board (700 x 300 dots). 

• Super-OS/9 software is C compatible with OS-9 68k 
and AT&T Unix system V. 

For further information call TPUG Inc. at 
(416) 445-4524, ask for Bruce, 

NOTE: If you own a 3 board SuperPET and wish to 
acquire Super-OS/9, please call TPUG before, order- 
ing Super-OS/9, for info about a hardware fix to a 
design error in your SuperPET computer. 

Super-OS/9 is a trade mark of TPUG and Avygdor Moise. 
OS-9 is a trademark of Microware and Motorola, 
UNIX is a trade mark of Bell Laboratories. 



TPUG Magazine 7 



Expand your VIC 



by Ron Byers 

In these days of mega-byte memories and 
hard drives, turning on your VIC 20 and 
seeing only 3583 bytes free is enough to 
give one an inferiority complex. If seeing 
28159 bytes free would make you feel bet- 
ter, the obvious answer is the purchase 
of a 24K memory expander. Unfortunate- 
ly, you may have to look for a long time 
or be very lucky to find one for sale at 
any price. Also, of course, the price 
wouldn't have to be very high before you 
would decide that a second-hand C-64 
would be a wiser purchase. Before you 
give up in despair, however, consider the 
possibility of building your own memory 
expander. 

An amateur radio magazine called 73 
Magazine (Issue #292, Jan, 1985) had an 
excellent article by Gary P. Brefini that 
gives all the schematic diagrams and in- 
formation necessary to do the job. An 
inter-library loan could probably make 
this article available to you. The things 
I learned from building two of these , the 
diagrams I made in order to translate the 
schematics into something I could follow, 
and the technique of piggy -backing chips 
should make it possible for even the 
neophyte hardware hacker to do a brain 
transplant on the VIC. 

The hardware needed for this project 
may be purchased from Radio Shack, 
with the exception of the static RAM, 
which may be obtained from Jameco 
Electronics, 1355 Shore way Rd,, Bel- 
mont, CA 94002 (phone 415-592-8097). (It 
is part #6264P-15 and is priced at $4,49 
U.S. in their last catalogue.) If you want 
to expand to 24K of additional memory, 
you will need three of these. When you 
make your trip to the 'Shack' to pick up 
the circuit board (276-154-A) and a .01 
microfarad capacitor and some wire, be 
sure to get a 28-pin socket too. Use of the 
socket will allow you to do all of the wir- 
ing and checking while you are waiting 
for the chips to arrive. Note that the wire 
you use must be very small in diameter; 
small enough (with insulation on) to pass 
through the holes in the circuit board. 
Colour-coded wire makes the Job much 
easier as well. 

The diagram shows the placement of 
the components. As you can see, some of 
the wires from the RAM chip socket go 



to the lettered pads on the bottom side 
of the edge connector and others go to 
the numbered pads on the top side. It may 
make soldering easier if you feed the 
vrires going to the top pads up from 
below. You must use a fine-tipped, low 
heat iron, and a fine, low temperature 
solder for best results. Notice that the 
chip socket is placed with pin 1 in the hole 
that is the sixth from the left and the fifth 
from the top of the circuit board, as 
shown in the diagram. This placement 
will give one hole on either side of the 
socket for the attachment of wires. The 
next row of holes on the right (viewed 
from the top) may be used as the + 5V 
bus. Run a wire from this to pad 21, The 
second row to the left of the socket is the 
ground strip. Connect this to pad 22. The 
third row of holes on the right is con- 



nected to ground also. Pins 14 and 22 on 
the IC socket are connected to ground in 
this way, and pins 26 and 28 are similar- 
ly routed to the -I-5V on edge connector 
pad 21. The .01 capacitor is connected 
between + 5V and groimd . 

Before working with the circuit board, 
go over it with fine emerj' paper or steel 
wool to make the contacts clean and 
shiny. Run and solder all of the wires as 
shown in the diagram and then carefully 
check each one with an ohm meter or 
tester to see that there is continuity bet- 
ween each pin from the socket to the ap- 
propriate pad on the edge connector. 
Note that the lettered pads do not strict- 
ly follow alphabetical order! There shavld 
not be continuity between any two pins 
from the socket except between pins 14 
and 22, and between 26 and 28. The 



CAT N» 276 - 154 A 

PIN • I IS « FROM L^FT jINO 5 IWWM 




A3 


ai 








IT 








B 


M 


w 


9 


S 


t 


1 


B 


4 


9 


a 


1 


U 


L_i 


U 




U 


Lj 


U U 


u 


u 


u 


u 


LJ 


l-J 


LJ 


U 


U 


u 


u 


u irr 


[_I 


J3. 


X3- 


-Q. 


J=X 


J=X 


XX 


1—1 r-l 


J=L 


J=L 


XX 


JTL 


JUL 


-d 


J3. 


XX 


ITT 


J=L 


-a. 


J3. 


J=L 


xn 



S fl f 

VIEW F«M iNSlOe •m« viC C i.ookin» out; 



8 issue 24 



solder connections are very close 
together so care must be taken to prevent 
solder bridges. If there are any, the ohm 
meter will find them and they must be 
removed before you insert the chip and 
power-up. Extra time taken at this stage 
will prevent problems later on. Pads A, 
1, and 22 on the edge connector should 
be shorted together, but make sure that 
there is no continuity between pads 21 
and 22. 

When all of the wiring and soldering 
has been completed and checked, careful- 
ly insert a static RAM chip into the 
socket. Turn the VIC off and push the 
edge connector into the cartridge port. 
The port is slightly larger than the edge 
connector (at least mine was), so be sure 
to center the board so that there is the 
same space on both sides. Hold your 
breath and turn on the VIC. If all is well , 
you should be greeted with a message 
which says 11775 bytes free. If not, turn 
off the VIC, reposition the board and give 
it another chance. 

Although it may take you several hours 
to wire an expander for 8K, it should only 
take a few minutes to add two more 8K 
blocks if you have two additional static 
RAM chips. Power-down the VIC and 
remove the circuit board. (If you wish to 
check the integrity of the other RAM 
chips you could put them, one at a time, 
in the place of the original chip in the 
socket.) Find pin 20 on the second chip 
and gently bend it out to 90 degrees and 
then place it directly, pin-for-pin, on top 
of the first. Carefully tack -solder each pin 
on the second chip to the first (except for 
pin 20). Run a wire from pin 20 on chip 
2 to pad 11 on the edge connector. You 
have just added another 8K of RAM. Try 
it as you did the first and you should see 
19967 bytes free. 

Let's go for 28159 bytes free. Bend out 
pin 20 on a third chip and piggyback it 
on top of chip two. Tack solder to the pins 
below as before. Connect a wire from pin 
20 to pad 12. That should do it . . . 24K! 

The 7S Magazine article mentioned 
above gives a short program to check 
each memory location in the added 24K. 
Generally speaking, if you can load a long 
program which uses the expanded 
memory and if it lists alright, all is well. 
If you use the original article, note that 
there is an error in their diagram. Pad 7 
should not be grounded. 

You will find that this expander, along 
with the PET emulator program available 
from TPUG, will make your VIC 20 con- 
siderably more useful. I find that with the 
expander, a 1600 modem and a 40 Col- 
umn terminal program, the VIC can tele- 
communicate with the best of them. D 




by David Bradley 

Copyright © 1986 David Bradley 

The world of Commodore computers is 
filled mth what is kindly called orphaned 
equipment. After years of experience vaith 
this equipment, David Bradley assures ms 
that there is still life after abandonrmnt, 
and offers the following helpful hints and 
information. 

Rehabilitate your orphan 

Tired of hearing your machines are ob- 
solescent? I'm here to tell you that Com- 
modore equipment can be put to good use 
for years after other machines have been 
relegated to dusty cupboards — or worse. 

• A 1525 printer can be used to keep a 
car from rolling. Just place it by one of 
the tires and your worries are over. 

• A 1541 can be used to assist you in star- 
ting a small restaurant business. No, not 
to keep track of your inventory or do your 
accounting, but to cook your food, as well 
as make toast. 

• All of your old, burned out Commodore 
64 power supplies can be used to help you 
with your boating. Tie them all together 
or put them in a strong bag of some sort 
and use them as an anchor for your small 
to medium-sized water craft. 

• An old PET of any model can be used 
as a stylish hood scoop for your car. 

• Old Vic 20's are a perfect thing to put 
into time capsules. That way future 
generations can look back and see just 
how barbaric the 1980's were. 

• Commodore joysticks have absolutely 
no use at all. 

New Commodore products 

Commodore has just announced that the 
Commodore 64 will soon be able to 
operate a modem at 19.2 Kilobaud. Up 
until recently, the C-64 was limited to 
1200 (and even that was pushing it), but 
Commodore has discovered a fix for this. 
It seems that the chips that handle the 
user/RS232 ports of the C-64 (two 6526's) 
were located too far from the video chip 
(6567). Apparently, the distance from the 
chips slowed things down so much that 
it severely limited the communications 
speed of the computer. The answer to this 
problem was to redesign the circuit board 
so that the chips in question reside right 
next to each other. Another technological 



triumph for the company %ve have all 
come to love so much! 

Another development that should come 
as no surprise to all those that know and 
love Commodore is the introduction of a 
special interface for the 1526/802 type 
printers that will allow them to work 
100% with Print Shop, Newsroom and 
all those other terrific, graphic -type pro- 
grams. It can be installed quite easily. 
After you have plugged in the interface 
to 120 VAC, all you have to do is take the 
serial cable that is included with the in- 
terface and plug it into the unused serial 
port on your 1526/802 as well as one of 
the two serial ports on the interface. Add 
a suitable amount of paper into the inter- 
face and check to ensure that the ribbon 
(included at no extra cost with the inter- 
face) is properly inserted. The final step 
is to turn your 1526/802 printer off and 
then load and run the graphics programs 
that you could never make use of before. 
To return to normal text mode, turn the 
interface off and apply power to the 
1526/802 printer again. By the way, to 
order this fine Commodore technological 
advancement, be sure to call your local 
Commodore dealer and ask him/her about 
the MPS-801. 

On the technical scene 

Commodore has finally sent out an of- 
ficial release dealing with the poor picture 
quality that most people experience when 
they attempt to hook their C-64 to a 
television set. It seems that the Com- 
modore 64 ^ves off so much radiation of 
various sorts, that it makes a clear pic- 
ture on a TV impossible, unless you hook 
it up to a TV in the house or apartment 
next to yours. Apartments directly above 
or below will produce an improved display 
but will not be quite as clean as one next 
door. This is due to the fact that a lot of 
the radiation that the 64 produces is 
known as vertical radiation. Rural users 
are, as Commodore so eloquently puts it, 
SOL (whatever that means). If you are 
not on good terms with neighbours direct- 
ly beside you, you can try neighbours two 
or three doors away, but Commodore did 
not test this. Their dedicated technical 
person does not get along with the peo- 
ple that live farther than one door away 
from him. Some times I guess relatives 
can be like that. D 



TPUG Magazine 9 



Protecto's B128/8050/4023 system 



by Arthur R. Klinger 

Protecto Enterprises has provided 
several thousand users with an excellent 
computer system comprising the 128 
kilobyte B- 128 computer, the 1 megabyte 
single-sided 8050 dual -disk drive, the 80 
column 4023 dot -matrix printer, a mono- 
chrome monitor, manuals and a disk of 
training and utility programs — all at the 
bargain price of 795 dollars (US). They 
also make available most of the programs 
needed by serious users, including a word 
processor, a data base, spreadsheet, 
general ledger, inventory and telecom- 
munications programs and others. These 
are well-known, full-featured programs 
worth several times more than their pre- 
sent price of fifty dollars each. 

Most of this hardware and software has 
been reviewed individually in various 
detail in publications ser\ing the serious 
PET/CBM user. This review touches on- 
ly lightly on each item, pointing out a few 
features, developments and problems 
that may not be widely known. 

The B-128 computer 

The B-128 is a beautifully-packaged 128 
kilobyte, 80 column machine having an in- 
ternal power supply, 96 key keyboard, a 
6509 processor running at a 2 MHz clock 
speed (twice the traditional 1 MHz 
speeds), an industry standard RS232 
serial interface as well as the high-speed 
IEEE-488 instrumentation parallel bus, 
a cartridge slot, memory expansion bus, 
the famous 6581 SID (Sound Interface 
Device) with audio output, an expanded 
BASIC 4.0-1- with print using, bload and 
bsave, an internal ASCII/PET ASCII 
conversion, and other features. About 90 
dollars worth of parts can bring internal 
memory up to 256 kilobytes. The numeric 
keypad is possibly the most convenient on 
the market, with ., -t- , -, *,/, entry, clear 
entry and double-zero entry all conve- 
niently with the ten digits under the 
operator's one hand. All graphics 
characters are available from the 
keyboard, and are shown on the front 
sides of the keys. Engineers, scientists 
and technically inclined users would par- 
ticularly like such things as the powerful 
IEEE-488 (GPIB) instrumentation bus, 
the quick 2 MHz computation speed, the 
SID 'waveform generator' , the complete 
numeric keypad, a key dedicated to the 



pi symbol and pi constant, and a very 
good 9-digit floating-point BASIC. 

During the first few weeks of use, I 
discovered a few minor flaws in the 
B-128's operation. The top of the case just 
above the internal power supply gets 
quite warm, although no problems have 
yet surfaced. Unless sound-making 
routines are written carefully, the inter- 
nal speaker emits a continuous low- 
volume but irritating sound. The SID chip 
has the capability of handling analog 
signals and digital switch closures (the 
paddle and joystick control lines as found 
in the C-64 and C-128 computers). Many 
business and technical users need these 
ports for sketchpads, plotters, scanners 
and other analog resistance or voltage 
monitoring. In the B-128, however, these 
lines have not been brought to the out- 
side world via joystick connectors or 
other means. 

The B-128 has a dedicated key to switch 
from upper case/graphics mode to upper 
case/lower case mode. Although it is a 
business machine, the machine powers up 
in graphics mode, and graphics 
characters are displayed on the screen 
with no spacing between lines (correct for 
graphics use). Unfortunately, the zero 
spacing is maintained when the machine 
is switched to business mode, which 
makes the screen appear cramped, and 
allows descenders to touch upper case or 
tall letters in the line just below. The user 
can add a single pixel space between lines 
by poking an 8 to register 9 of the 6845 
\ddeo controller chip, but it seems that 
this action should have been included in 
the ROM routine that services the 
graphics/lowercase key. 

A check of the B128's horizontal line 
graphics shows that the graphics 
characters shown on the c in graphics 
mode erroneously prints the graphics 
symbol shown for the shifted v, and vice- 
versa. Considering the logical layout of 
the graphics set on the keyboard, it ap- 
pears that the character ROM, and not 
the keyboard labelling, is in error. A 
similar check of the vertical line graphic 
characters and bar -graph characters 
shows that some of the left-most and 
right-most line characters are 2 and 
possibly 3 pixels wide, contrary to the 
one-pixel widths expected by the user and 
created by the traditional PET and CBM 
machines. Somehow, the position of these 



line graphics characters seem also to be 
slightly offset from the position they 
would normally be expected to occupy. 
These idios_\Ticrasies can be seen when 
the characters are printed to the screen 
beside or below each other. 

The 8050 disk drive 

The 8050 dual-floppy disk unit uses 100 
track-per-inch single-head drives with a 
storage capacity of 533,248 bytes on 77 
tracks on one side of each of the two 
disks. Its DOS (2.5) has several features 
not available on the 175 kilobyte 4040 and 
1541 single drives popular with PET and 
C-64 users. The 8050 drives transfer in- 
formation over the IEEE-488 bus (only), 
at a rate that is roughly 4 to 6 times faster 
than that for the 1541's serial bus. 
Another version of this drive, the 8250, 
writes on both sides of both disks, pro- 
viding a total of more than 2 megabytes 
of storage on two inexpensive floppies. 
The 8250 DOS (2.7) allows one random 
access file to occupy the entire 2.12 
megabytes of disk storage. 

In spite of their high 'quad' density of 
information storage, 8050 drives have a 
reputation for excellent reliability and ac- 
curacy. My 3 year old 8050, which uses 
Micropolis drives, has been used to for- 
mat at least 3000 disks and to store or 
copy a few thousand programs, often us- 
ing the cheapest of single-density blank 
disks. Yet I have encountered only one 
'bad disk', and no other problems or er- 
rors have ever been traced to the drives 
or DOS. The moment the doors are clos- 
ed on a fresh installed disk, the drives 
begin turning to insure solid, precise 
centering, and the disk ID is checked. 
This eliminates the primary sources of 
read-write errors in the older 2040/4040 
drives. 

Some users have reported problems 
when the 8050s are moved or 
transported, and have blamed it on such 
things as flexing of the frame of the 
drives. In my case, this so-called 'pro- 
blem' has always been cured by simply 
commanding the drive to 'initialize', 
which repositions the head at its proper 
'home' position, re-establishing the rela- 
tionship of head position to track position. 

Many or most of the earlier 8050s were 
Continued overleaf. , . 



10 Issue 24 




TPUG 

LIBRARY 

DISKS 

10 months of the latest, 
fabulous public domain 
software only 

$70.95 

# ^ us ord« 



CANADIAN 

orders US$59.95 



Subscribe now to start 
receiving the TPUG disk of 
the month 

You SAVE 20% or more by using this offer as a TPUG member 

THIS OFFER VALID FOR PAID UP TPUG MEMBERS ONLY 

PLEASE PRINT 



Name: . 
Address: 



Membership # 



Type of Payment 



D Cheque 
D Mastercard 
D Visa 
D Money Order 



Signature 



Arnount $ 

Currency D Can, □ US 

Credit Card # 

Expiry Date 



Type of Computer 

D C64 

a VIC 20 

D PET a 4040 D 8050 

D SUPERPET {10 disks) D 4040 □ 8050 

D C128(1541 only) 

D MS/DOS 

D AMIGA (3'/i") (7 disks) D 



shipped with Tandon drives having hing- 
ed 'trap-door' access similar to those on 
4040 Shugart-built drives. The recent 
8050s from Protecto come equipped with 
MPI (Micro-Peripherals) model 101 drives 
having doors similar to those of the Tan- 
don drives. However, the MPI units have 
heavy cast-aluminum frames and are 
thought by some to be better tb^n the 
Tandon drives. A pleasing discovery was 
the fact that the recent 8050s from Pro- 
tecto contain all of the ROM and control 
electronics of the bigger dual -sided 8250. 
One writer, R. Dale Connelly, stated in 
the JCCUG Newsletter that MPI mode! 
102 dual-sided drives can be purchased 
for about $100 each, and installed in place 
of the original drives with 2 jumper 
changes to yield a full -blown 2 megabyte 
8250. However, I have not been able to 
locate any MPI 102s, get a reply from 
MPI, or find directions for the 
conversion. 

The 4023 printer 

The 80-coluren model 4023 dot-matri.x 
printer has been popular for some time , 
and is quite well known by PET and CBM 
users. It is very much like the popular 
Epson MX-70 or MX-80 printers and can 
use the Epson ribbon cartridge, but sup- 
ports the full Commodore set of ASCII 
characters with all graphic and cursor 
control characters. It uses a heavy-duty, 
jewelled Shinwa print head with a life ex- 
pectancy of 50 million characters. It 
prints bi-directionally at about 45 
80-character lines per minute, or 124 
20-character lines per minute. It will print 
user downloaded characters, format 
numbers and lists through an excellent 
print using-style formatting capability, 
and has incrementally variable line 
spacing. It receives information over the 
IEEE-488 parallel bus only (it will not 
work with the C-64 serial bus without an 
interface). It sprocket feeds the paper and 
takes standard width pin-fed fan-fold 
paper. The machine seems well made and 
reliable, and prints fully-formed 
characters that look nicer than those 
from my larger, more expensive Com- 
modore model 8023 dot-matrix printer. 

The Xtron monitor 

The purchaser has a choice of monitors 
and a choice of green or amber screens. 
By paying 20 dollars more than the 795 
dollar package price, I obtained the Xtron 
12-inch AG12X green-screen monitor 
with an integral 'tilt-and-swivel' stand 
and 'super-high' resolution. The 
monitor's styling is modern, and the col- 
our and styling match the B-128 so well 



that it almost seems made to order. The 
manual that came with the miit was 
labelled for the 'mode! 12HP39' and 
specified an excellent 20MHz bandwidth 
and an 800-line resolution at centre- 
screen. However, a company represent- 
ative states that the AA12X/AG12X ac- 
tually have an even better resolution of 
1000 lines at centre-screen, and 800 lines 
at screen edge. The monitor is quite com- 
parable to that of Commodore's superb 
12-inch screen, which is an integral part 
of their CBM 8032 computer. 

Unfortunately, the advantage of high 
resolution is more than offset by the fact 
that the display occupies only a relative- 
ly small area (6.3 by 7.5 inch) in the centre 
of the 12-inch screen! Even after adjust- 
ing the horizontal and vertical size con- 
trols for maximum size, the measured 
diagonal of a full -screen display was only 
9.6 inches. Nearly an inch of margin at 
the top and bottom , and nearly 1.4 inches 
of margin at each side, were left unused. 
This meant that the display occupied only 
47 square inches, or about half of the ex- 
posed screen area! Representatives of 
Xtron and Protecto shared my opinion 
that the fault was with the B128, and the 
Protecto representative said that other 
monitors were also not being utilized ful- 
ly. Experimentation with the B-128 video 
chip registers and the Xtron controls in- 
dicates that the Xtron monitor could 
probably scan the full screen width, 
although resolution falls off slightly and 
'pincushion' distortion increase 
noticeably toward the edges. In com- 
parison, my CBM 8032 screen is adjusted 
to within 1/2 or 5/8 of an inch of the 
screen edge, or 10.65 inch diagonal size, 
with only a barely perceptible deteriora- 
tion in resolution or distortion. 

When the video controller chip of the 
B-128 was poked to add another pixel line 
of space beetween each displayed line, the 
Xtron screen was utilized to a satisfac- 
tory degree in the vertical direction. 
However, I could find no way to obtain 
a similar spreading of the display horizon- 
tally. The problem results in characters 
that are uncomfortably small for pro- 
longed, comfortable reading. The charac- 
ters also appear to be somewhat 
awkwardly 'tall and thin'. For this reason 
alone, I find myself going back to my 
comfortable 8032 for prolonged word pro- 
cessing or programming — almost 
negating the very reason for the B-128 
purchase! Two other distant B-128 users 
did not notice the 'problem until it was 
brought to their notice by telephone, so 
the shrunken screen may not be as notice- 
able on other monitors. I have yet to try 
other monitors on my B-128, to more con- 



fidently determine whether the problem 
is with the monitor or the computer, and 
whether the problem is general or is uni- 
que to my particular units. 

Software 

The key programs for the B-128 are 
Superscript II, Superbase, and Calc 
Result. All three are popularized as 
smooth , fast, powerful programs capable 
of competing with the best in the 'big 
league' of IBM PC and other high-priced 
machiines. Superscript 11 and Superbase 
work well together, and are available 
together as Super Office. Although I 
haven't used the manuals much, they are 
in full size three-ring binders and appear 
to be clear, complete, concise, and 
reasonably well indexed. 

Superscript II has all the standard 
features: document chaining to unlimited 
lengths, search and replace, headings and 
footings, decimal tabs (alignment of 
decimals), disk formatting, printer lines 
per inch and built-in mailing list merge. 
It has a 32,000 word dictionary with a 
capacity of 200,000 words, and a back- 
ground printing mode that allows letters 
and reports to be printed out while the 
user is typing in another document. It 
also does calculations for financial reports 
and so on, with row and column addition, 
multiple column, addition, calculation of 
numbers within text, and number capac- 
ity to 20 digits. It stores in sequential files 
instead of the program files of the 
popular WordPro series of Commodore 
word processors. 

Superbase has wide acclaim as one of 
the best data base systems on the market. 
Many users claim it to be "equal to or bet- 
ter than dBase II but smoother, faster 
and easier to operate". It has a built-in 
programming language, user-definable 
screen formats with up to four screens, 
calculation capabilities, sorting on any 
field, and comprehensive search and 
selection capabilities. It handles 15 files 
per database, unlimited records per file, 
127 fields or llOScharacters per record, 
and 255 characters of text per field. It 
supports printouts to 255 columns. 

Calc Result is a 'three-dimensional' 
spreadsheet containing up to 32 pages of 
electronic spreadsheets of 64 by 256 lines 
per page, all of which are interrelatable. 
Four pages can be viewed on the screen 
at once. Formulas are protected from ac- 
cidental erasure. The program handles 
conditional functions such as if-then-else 
and or-and-not. Numbers can be 
translated into charts on the screen or 
printer; mathematical functions such as 
sine, cosine and logarithms are sup- 



12 Issue 24 



ported; and statistical functions can com- 
pute minimum, maximum, mean, stan- 
dard deviation, and so on. Commands like 
Replicate, Copy, Move, Goto and others 
make Calc Result easy to work with. The 
user can decide on the printed layout, 
with control over the printing order of 
columns and the number of times the col- 
umn will appear, location of printout, and 
storage of the layout. Help screens ease 
learning and use. 

So far I have used only Superscript II. 
People familiar with Wordpro will find 
Superscript easy to learn and in general 
quite satisfying. However, in the form 
provided, it has serious bugs with its cur- 
sor controls, insert/delete functions and 
speed. The 'bell' is sounded near each 
right margin, but the speaker then emits 
a low-volume but irritating sound that 
varies or pulses when the cursor controls 
are used. It is occasionally too slow in ac- 
cepting input, omitting letters during 
short bursts of familiar words . Worse yet , 
it frequently repeats letters, putting 2 or 
3 characters when only one is needed. 
While eursoring right or left, the cursor 
pauses arbitrarily every 5 to 15 character 
spaces, slowing progress and making it 
difficult to stop precisely at desired loca- 
tions. With more than a few paragraphs, 
pushing text apart with the shift -insert 
key is agonizingly slow and erratic, with 
action sometimes taking place well after 
the user gives up and releases the key. 

These problems may all involve inter- 
rupt functions, the internal servicing 
routines that are executed by the machine 
60 times per second. Whatever their 
source, they are severe enough to have 
forced me to set aside Superscript II un- 
til a fix is available. 

Summary 

This article was written with two object- 
ives in mind: to alert people to the exist- 
ence of a very capable and complete com- 
puter system available at an extra- 
ordinarily low price, and to call for 
assistance on fixing the few bugs or 
otherwise enhancing this fascinating but 
somewhat 'orphaned' system. At least 
20,000 B128s have been released for 
distribution in the USA, and most of them 
are apparently already in use in homes 
and offices. With the number of users, ex- 
perts, authors and sources of information 
now available, there is no doubt that such 
problems as those mentioned above will 
be (and are being) quickly corrected. The 
B-128 and its associated hardware and 
software makes for a highly capable 
system , and should make a lot of people 
happy. □ 



TPUG PROGRAMMIHG COKTEST 




TPUG is once again offering you Ihe opportunity to reduce the costs 
of your hobby. The Librarians Committee of TPUG is sponsoring a 
programming contest as a means to encourage you to submit your 
programs to the library. The winner of this contest will be selected at 
random from the names of the submitters of all programs accepted by 
the librarians from the submissions received between the first 
publication date of this notice and Friday, October 31, 1986. The 
more programs you submit, the greater your chance of winning. 

KULES 

• Subnnissions must be received on or before the deadline. 

• Submissions must be on diskette (VIC programs may be 
submitted on cassette — two copies, please). 

• Submissions must be original material. 

• Submissions can be for any Commodore machine. 

• Submissions should indicate that they are contest 
submissions, 

• All submissions become the property of TPUG. 

• TPUG general policy of returning a disk of your choice on 
acceptance remains in effect for all submissions. 

• Unaccepted disks will be returned. 

• Freeware submissions will not be accepted for contest 
consideration. 

• Submitter's name must be included in a comment statement 
at the start of the program as well as on the front of the disk. 

• First, second and third prizes will be awarded consisting of 
100, 50, 25 blank disks respectively or 25, 10, 5 disks 
(respectively) from the TPUG libraries. 

The Librarians Committee 



TPUG Magazine 13 



Solving the Plus/4 RS232 mystery 



by Jim Grubbs 

C(ypyright © 1986 Jim Grubbs 

Innovation is a wonderful thing. That's 
what they tell me, anyway. In order to 
make a better product, changes must be 
made. I remember the first time I tried 
to make my C-64go 'beep'. It didn't seem 
much to ask. Little did I know that it 
would take a thorough understanding of 
the SID (Sound Interface Device) chip to 
accomplish this simple task. Along came 
the Plus/4 and this time Commodore 
made 'beeping' even simpler than it was 
on a VIC 20. Things were looking up — 
until I got ready to put my Plus/4 into 
telecomputing service. 

Everything looked good. The pseudo- 
RS232 port was there. RUN Magazine 
even said that the port was ninety-nine 
per cent compatible with VIC 20 and C-64 
accessories. In a casual aside, they also 
said that little information was available 
on the RS232 port. Tliis statement should 
have made bells ring and red lights flash 
in my head! 

It was iate the first night I brought the 
Plus/4 home. Throwing caution to the 
wind, I reached for my trusty VIC 
modem. It just didn't seem to want to fit. 
I was certain that the lateness of the hour 
and my fatigue from learning about a new 
machine was causing me to hallucinate. 
I redoubled my efforts. 

I wasn't hallucinating — the cases on 
the 1600 and 1650 modems were simply 
too big to fit in the access hole provided 
on the back of the Plus/4. Dissappointed, 
I headed off to bed, cursing the Com- 
modore gods and their 'innovation'. 

In a calmer moment the next day, I 
carefully removed the plastic case from 
the 1600 to expose the bare eiruit board. 
I figured that perhaps with its shell 
removed, the modem would fit in the 
Plu5/4. My thinking was correct, and the 
first rung on what would turn out to be 
a long ladder was successfully mounted. 
Next, to telecompute! 

There is an old saying about the word 
'assume' that's not appropriate for a 
family magazine, but it applied to my ex- 
periments. After carefully typing in the 
sample modem program in the Plus/4 
manual, I tried accessing our local 
bulletin board. Once again, failure met 
my attempts: no receive, no transmit. 
Back to the dravring board! 



I'm somewhat of an expert on RS232 
communications with the VIC 20 and 
C-64, so when I took a good look at the 
open statement in the Plu.s/4 program, I 
thought I had found the problem. On the 
VIC 20 and C-fi4, a .simple open 
2,2,3,chr$(6) will put you in business at 
300 baud communications with .standard 
protocol. The Plus/4 statement looks like 
this: open 2,2.3,chrS(22)-hchr?(5). Not 
quite the same thing, is it? 

Those of you unfamiliar with the RS232 
port on the VIC 20 and C-64 might want 
to go back and review the 'Gateway to the 
World' articles in the June and December 
1984 issues of RUN. Briefly, there are 
two registers in your computer thai con- 
trol RS232 parameters — the control and 
command registers. First glance at the 
layout of the control register in the PIus/4 
showed it to be similar to the VIC 20 and 
C-64. A careful look at bit number four, 
though, revealed something new. When 
this bit is set to a one, the baud rate 
generator, the 'heart' of the communica- 
tions hardware, determines the receive 
rate. All standard data speeds are 
available in the Plus/4. If this bit is twt 
set, an external source can be used to con- 
trol the receive speed. If the bit isn't set, 
the receiver does not work! 

If bit number 4 in the control register 
is to be set, a 16 must be poked into this 
register. ,Iust like our old trusty VIC 20 
and C-64, a 6 is poked into the register 
to set the unit for operation at 300 baud. 
WTien we put the values together we 
come up with chr$(22). Mystery number 
two solved! 

The chrS(5) is what sets the command 
register. Unlike the VIC 20 and C-64, 
where all values in the command register 
are optional, some value must be placed 
here. Two bits are critical for normal 
operation . 

Bit zero (the first bit) disables the 
receiver if cleared. If this bit is set to 1, 
the receiver is all ready to go and the 
DTK line (Data Terminal Ready) is 
brought low. The values in bits 2 and 3 
determine the status of the transmitter 
and enable the transmitter interrupt. To 
set the value of bit 2 to a 1, we poke a 
4. Once again, by adding the two values 
together we end up with chr|(4 + 1) or 
chr$(5). Mystery number three was now 
solved, but why wouldn't anything work? 
I went on a safari inside mv Plus/4 and 



disco\'ered that a 6551 UART (Universal 
AsjTichronous Receive Transmit) chip 
lives there. M you need to know is that 
this chip is what does the RS232 com- 
municating for you. In other machines, 
UART-type things have been accomplish- 
ed by the VIA and CIA chips. Studying 
some technical information about this 
chip led me to believe that something 
coming from the VIC modem was telling 
the 6551 to hold off on rcceiviTig and 
transmitting. In data communications, 
this is known as handshaking. If the pro- 
per signals aren't present, nothing 
happens. 

Before taking drastic action on the 
1600, 1 decided to see if I could make the 
RS232 port receive an<l transmit at all. 
For e.xperimentation piu-poses, I used a 
very simple homemade modem I had 
developed for another purpose. Sure 
enough, sending a signal into the Plus/4 
resulted in printing on the screen. Typ- 
ing on the keyboard caused the transmit 



S4-PIN user pori conneccor 



O O 



n^lkjhfedcba' 
OOOOOOOOOOOC 
O O OIO 6 O O O O C 
O O;* — •*" """ 



earner 
oetect LED 



Answer / 

oriGiNate- 

swicch 



holes for Pressune fife PosCi 
in c£we < ore in eecn cemer; 



» 



I 



V\C 1600 Modem C bcfTcni viesv ) 



FiauRE one 



14 fssue 24 



tones to shift just as they should. 

One connection at a time, I started 
duplicating the signals present on the 
VIC modem . It was a tedious process and 
not one I recommend for beginners. By 
the time I got to pin H on the 1600 I had 
struck gold! 

Pin H on the user is assigned as the 
DCD or Data Carrier Detect signal. 
Wien the VIC 1600 detects the carrier 
tone coming through the line, it drives the 
voltage level on this pin low. Tliat's great 
on the C-G4 and the VIC 20, but guess 
what? The Plus/4 thinks that this means 
the carrier has disappeared and turns off 
the receiver. Now I was getting 
somewhere. 

By breaking the printed circuit foil on 
the 1600 leading to pin H, I forced the 
DCD signal to float high . It's a bit crude , 
and you lose the ability to know when the 
carrier is present, but it does allow 
reception . 

This time I had it for sure, right? Not 
quite. There was still one hurdle to jump. 

On the 1600 modem, pin H is connected 
directly to pin K, the CTS or Clear To 
Send signal. Once again, on the 1600 
when the carrier is present, the CTS line 
is driven low. That's all right with the 
VIC 20 and C-64, but the Plus/4 thinks 
this means it is not clear to send. So, 
breaking the connection to this pin 
returned the signal to the proper state 
and everything now worked. 

The necessary modifications are il- 
lustrated in figure 1. This is definitely not 
a project for the weak at heart, nor is it 
recommended for people not familiar 
with working on circuit boards. Further, 
it is a short term solution only, since use 
of the DCD and CTS lines is effectively 
lost. This has particular implications for 
uploading and downloading some 
programs. 

Rest assured, the 6551 UART in the 
Plus/4 opens up the capability for 
sophisticated data communications. 
There are even some indications in the 
memory map that Commodore had some- 
thing up their sleeves for special com- 
munications software/hardware. Has 
anyone figured out what the 'Kennedy' 
routine does yet? 

Like the SID, the UART opens up new 
avenues for computer programmers. And 
just like the SID, it will take some time 
to learn how to properly address this chip. 
The Programmer's Reference Guide 
should be some help when it finally ap- 
pears. Data communications is an impor- 
tant aspect of computing. The Plus/4 ap- 
pears to be designed to make maximum 
use of telecomputing possibilities. High 
speed, synchronous communications with 



full error checking is just one. In the 
meantime, isn't it fun to lieat Commodore 
at their own game? 

Step by step instructions 

• Carefully remove the 1600 modem from 
its case. It is held in place by four 
pressure-fit posts, one located in each 
corner. 

• After removing the circuit board from 
the case, align it so that it matches the 
diagram in Figure 1. 

• Locate the double row of solder connec- 
tions located at the top of the board. 
Count carefully and locate the foil that 
runs between pins H and K. 

• Note the vertical foil that connects to 
the foil between H and K. It runs between 
pins J and K. 

• Using an X-acto or similar knife, 
carefully cut the trace you just located. 
Use caution to insure that only this foil 
is broken. 

The modem is now ready to use with the 
Plus/4! Do not atte>npt to put it back in 
its case, since the enclosed 1600 modem 
will not fit into the opening on the Plus/4. 
Make sure the unit is right-side-up before 
you insert it. Operation of the 1600 will 
be identical to before. C 



NOW GET TRUE DESCENDERS 

FOR 801, 1525, GP-100. 
HUSH 80 & SIMILAR PRINTERS 

From the Descender ROM People 

peopi 

SAMPLE 
ACTUAL SIZE 

FEATURING : 



ARTS 



True descenders 

A pleasing alternative 

Uniform character lormatlon 

No change In graphic capability 

No change in software compatibility 

No change in printer operation 

North American standard font 

Complete Instructions 

Easy installation 

No soldering 

$39.95 Cdn $29.95 U.S. 

Ort- Reird«ntj odd 7V» Prov SoIb* Tax 
C^«4ue. Money Ordtr . Vila or MosrerCord 



WILANTA ARTS 

6843 Barrisdale Dr. 

MIsslssauga Ont. 

L5N 2H5 

1-416-858-9298 

Gat a Wilanta Descender ROM Today 

and make your old nigfitmara 
Just a font memory of yesterday I 



Marketplace 



COIVIPUTER RENTALS 

We buy, trade, sell and repair 
ComfTiodore computers 



• 1541 Alignment 


$ 29.00 


•4040 or B050 Drive 


$ 895.00 


• 2031 Drive 


S 325.00 


• SuperPET 


1 895.00 


• WordPro 4+ (PET) 


$150.00 


• VisiCalc (PET/CBM) 


$150.00 


Turn around time on 


repairs: 3 days 



1262 Don Mills Road 

Suite 94, Don Mills, Ont. 

Tel: (416) 446-1035 



Clearing several almost new PETs and 
8250. 8050 and 4040 disk drives. Also 
Z-RAM boards {CP/Mand64k addition- 
al RAM). For C64s we are clearing 80 
column boards with CP/M plus lots of 
software. 



Computer Workshops 

366-6192 

Rick Denda 



465 King Street East 

Units 

Toronto, Ont, MSA 1L6 



Hiis space 

could be 

advertising 

your product. 

Call John Matheson, 
(416) 445-4524 



TPUG Magazine 15 



I Was Blind, But Now I Can C 



by Robert W. Dray 

Have you ever felt that the devil sent us 
computers to punish us for ail the times 
we did the right and honourable thing? 

I own a SuperPET, but at work I use 
the new ICON computer with its Unix- 
like operating system. Recently, I was in- 
formed that I was to teach the C pro- 
gramming language beginning in January 
1986. I think my superiors selected C 
because it was not one of the many 
languages I could practice at home on the 
SuperPET. Never fear, TPUG to the 
rescue with Super-OS/9, another Unix- 
like system, for the SuperPET. 

When I first heard that TPUG was of- 
fering OS-9 for the SuperPET, I was 
elated. I would now have an operating 
system similar to the one on the ICON, 
and I could get a C compiler for it. With 
no hesitation, I sent the cheque, and some 
time later I received a phone call to come 
into town and pick up a parcel. 

With great excitement I opened the 
package containing several books, some 
disks and a cute little circuit board. On 
reading the instructions, I learned to my 
horror that I would have to take a solder- 
ing iron to my SuperPET. How could I 
violate a long-time friend that way? 
Nevertheless, after 24 hours of studying 
the diagrams and wondering whether or 
not I was capable of such delicate 
surgery, I opened the lid and started. 

The instructions were fairly clear, and 
I eventually reached the point where they 
said to turn on the computer, and run the 
test program. The test didn't work. 

You can imagine the sinking feeling in 
the pit of my stomach. Had I killed the 
patient? What was this act of foolishness 
going to cost me to have repaired? 

I pulled the parts back out and check- 
ed all the pins and solder joints; 
everything looked okay to me, so I put it 
back together. This time it passed the 
test, and I had OS-9 running on my own 
computer. 

Unlike Commodore's own operating 
s^tem, which is burned into ROM chips, 
OS-9 is disk-based. If you wish to change 
Commodore's BASIC 2.0 to BASIC 4.0, 
for example, you have to remove some 
chips and replace them with new ones. To 
modify a disk-based operating system, 
you simply put the new information on 
the disk. 



Disk-based systems are easily per- 
sonalized. If you don't like the opening 
message on power up, you can easily 
change it. If you are very weird, you even 
can change the names of the commands 
so that dog instead of dir will produce a 
directory of the disk. You could fix it so 
that nobody would be able to use your 
system because only you know the 
commands. 

With Super-OS/9 up, my next task was 
to get C, so I ordered it from TPUG. 
After some initial problems (my order got 
misplaced), I finally received the package 
of two disks and a book. 

The book, like other computer-related 
books, assumes you know far more than 
you actually do. There I was with two C 
disks plus one operating system disk. 
Now, my 4040 disk drive has only two 
slots and, any way you figure it, three 
disks can't fit into two slots! After some 
reading and a lot of frustration, I notic- 
ed that there were two versions of the C 
compiler. The one you use depends on 
which version of OS-9 you are running. 
I could put aside the disk for Level 2 OS-9 
systems, and use the one with the pro- 
gram eel. Now I was down to two disks 
and two drive slots. But which goes 
where? 

OS-9 was meant for very large disk- 
based systems. A single Commodore 
173K diskette can have a very long direc- 
tory if the individual programs are short. 
You can imagine how long the directory 
would be if the disk could hold 10 
megabytes. To get around this problem, 
Unix-like systems create a tree structure 
of directories and subdirectories. Each 
directory or subdirectory can contain files 
or subdirectories. This enables you to 
organize the contents of your disk so that, 
for example, all the files related to one 
job are in the same directory. This system 
makes makes it much simpler to deal with 
crowded disks. 

One of these directories is called cmds, 
and this is where the OS-9 system goes 
to find out how to perform any of the 
commands you give it. Well, each of the 
two disks, the C compiler and the 
operating system disk, had a cmds direc- 
tory. With a flash of insight, I figured 
that when using the compiler, I would not 
need the OS/9 disk, since the compiler 
disk had its own cmds directory, liius, 
the compiler disk goes into drive 0. 



The problem of where to stuff these 
disks required only three days to solve. 
(Nearing the third day, my guesses as to 
where to stuff them were becoming in- 
creasingly imaginative.) The next pro- 
blem was to determine where to place the 
C program I wanted to compile. Since I 
didn't need drive 1 for anything else, I 
decided to create a program and store it 
there. 

When using the tree structure of direc- 
tories, the directory in which you are 
located is called your working or data 
directory. You move from one (sub)direc- 
tory to another with the command chd 
xxxx, where 'xxxx' is the name of the 
directory you wish to enter. If the direc- 
tory is many layers down in this tree 
structure, you can specify the complete 
path, starting with the drive number. For 
example, you may wish to go from a 
directory on drive to one called sam on 
drive 1. You would use the command: 

chd /d1/schoo)/chemistry/sam. 

In addition to the working directory, 
there is another directory called the ex- 
ecution directory. This is the directory 
you tell the operating system to search 
to find out what a given command means. 
When you first power up, this execution 
directory is automatically set as the cmds 
directory on drive 0. Now, wouldn't you 
think that placing the compiler disk in 
drive with a cmds directory on it, would 
enable the system to find the commands. 
No way, Jose! You've no idea how I have 
come to hate the message error #216. 

Eventually 1 realized that my normal- 
ly intelligent machine might not be so 
gifted after the radical brain surgery I 
had performed, and 1 decided to tell it to 
change its execution directory to cmds on 
drive 0, by using the command chx 
/dO/cmds. It worked! Once you have 
changed the disk in drive 0, OS-9 ap- 
parently can't find the new one until you 
tell it where to look. 

The time had come: I moved to the 
directory called c.prgs in drive 1 that con- 
tained my C program (with chd 
/dl/c.prgs). The compiler was in drive 0, 
so I used chx /dO/cmds to inform the 
operating system where the the com- 
mands were to be found. I then gave the 
command ccl test.c to start compiling 
my program. The disk drive started to 
whir, and a message appeared indicating 



16 Issue 24 



that the compiler had started. Slowly, 
other messages appeared on the screen 
as various parts of the compilation pro- 
cess were completed. Finally the last step 
was under way as the link message 
appeared. 

This compiling process was slmv — ten 
minutes or so — but it was working! 
Then, suddenly, a new message: linker 
fatal . . . unable to produce output 
file . . . error #004. 1 quickly grabbed my 
list of error messages, only to find that 
there was no error #004 ... I had had bet- 
ter moments in my life. 

C source programs always end with the 
suffix .c. The compiled program has the 
same, but without the suffix. Looking 
around, I noticed a program called test 
in the citids directory on drive 0, but 
there was nothing in it. For the next few 
days, I tried every thing I could think of, 
and the only thing I noticed was that the 
computer was trying to put the final com- 
piled program in the cmds directory on 
drive 0, rather than in the directory con- 
taining the original progi-am on drive 1. 

Eventually, after several calls to 
TPUG, I reached Gerry Gold, who sug- 
gested I come out to a SuperPET 



meeting. Reluctantly admitting defeat, 1 

made the journey. 

At the meeting, Avy Moise told me that 
the compiler disk was full and that there 
was no room on it for the output file, 
hence the error message. The secret is to 
redirect the final output from its normal 
default destination of /dO/cmds to drive 
1 (in a directory called cprgs, in this case) 
with the command: 

ccl test.c -f=/dl/c.prgB/test 

The gods smiled on me: the compile work- 
ed. I had written and compiled my first 
C program on my own computer, and it 
took less than six months. 

At the SuperPet meeting, someone 
suggested a way to speed up the process 
by creating and using a ramdisk. In many 
computers, you can tell the computer that 
a portion of its RAM (random access 
memory) is a disk, which can be format- 
ted and used just like any other disk. 
When you use the ramdisk, the data 
transfer is internal to the computer, and 
so is much faster. In the course of com- 
piling a C program, many temporary files 
are created as the compiler gradually 
changes yoiu- source code into machine 



language. If it could write these files in- 
ternally on a ramdisk, the compiling pro- 
cess would be much faster. 

To create the ramdisk, you first ask for 
a directory of the ramdisk with the com- 
mand dir /dram. This produces an error 
message, since the disk doesn't yet exist. 
You then format the ramdisk with for- 
mat /dram. This prints some data on the 
screen and asks a question. Answer "y", 
and when it asks for the name of the disk, 
you simply give any name that you might 
give for any other disk. 

At this point, I moved to the directory 
containing my C program , and copied the 
program to the ramdisk. I then used chd 
/dram to move into the ramdisk as my 
working directory and gave the command 
to compile the program. This time the 
compiling process went much faster, re- 
quiring only two or three minutes. I 
directed the final output back to the 
c.prgs directory in drive 1. 

It has been a long and frustrating trip , 
but I try to tell myself that it was just one 
of life's little tests to allow me to prove 
once again'that people can be the masters 
of their machines — if they are not driven 
insane first. D 



OS/9 Software 

NOW AVAILABLE! 

Word Processor — DYNACALC 

Stylograph III a full featured spreadsheet US $99 Cdn $139 

Mail merge, Spell checker. Menu driven, fast. _ ^. 

Extensive features. Formats to screen as you work Uyiiaoiar 

US $149 Cdn $210 ^ full screen (similar to microEDIT) editor, text 

formatter and spell checker. US $90 Cdn $127 

C Compiler *'»» available DYNAFORM (Text Formatter), 

.,„. , . ,,, Tt, . .^ ., DYNASPELL US $110 Cdn $150 

A full implementahon of K & R standard C, with 

double precision variables US $138 Cdn $170 .^ „ , „ , , , , ,,^,„. 

To Order: Send a cheque or money order (add $10 for 

Also Pascal Compiler US $160 Cdn $225 shipping/handling and 7% PST where appUcable) to: 

TPUG, 
BASICOQ ^^^ Duncan Mill Rd., Suite G-7, 

Eton Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 1Z3 
A fully structured, sophisticated semi-compiled (I #v j m i 

code) BASIC. See Byte magazine April 1984 Order NOW! 

US $110 Cdn $155 — price increases August 1, 1986 



A layman's ^de to burst mode 



by M. Garamszeghy 

Copyright © 1986 M. Garamszeghy 

Part 2: Burst read 

In part 1 of this series on the 1571 burst 
mode (TPUG Magazine, Issue 2S), we ex- 
amined the various burst mode com- 
mands and how to access them. This 
month we shall cover the basics of the 
burst read data transfer protocol. 

Burst mode data transfer is very fast, 
up to 3800 bps (bytes per second). This 
is considerably faster than the normal 
1571 'fast' mode of about 1600 bps and 
the 1541 (or 1571 slow mode) rate of 
about 350 bps. (When you take into ac- 
count the 'overhead', such as disk in- 
itialization, track to track jump time and 
sector seeking time, the average burst 
mode speed is about 2200 bps, while the 
average value for 1571 fast mode is alwut 
1100 bps). During normal data transfers 
^.e. those using prints, get#, load, save) 
between a C-128 and a 1571 or 1541 
drive, a significant amount of time is 
taken up by the convoluted Kernel 
routines that must be followed for each 
byte to be sent. 

Burst mode eliminates some of the in- 
efficiency by sending data in blocks (up 
to Ik bytes long) based on a much 
simpler, and therefore much faster, hard- 
ware handshake. Data are exchanged 
directly between the 1571 and the data 
register of the Complex Interface Adap- 
tor #1 chip (CIA 1), based on a simple 
signal from the normal serial bus con- 
troller (on the CIA 2). 

There are four simple steps to perfor- 
ming a burst mode read operation. These 
are: 

• Send the appropriate command string 
to access a burst mode read; 

• Initialize the CIA chips; 

• Read the data; 

• Restore the default I/O devices. 

The first step can be performed by either 
machine language or BASIC statements. 
A typical BASIC statement may be as 
follows: 

open15,8,15,"u0"+chr$( 10] 

This particular example will ask the 1571 
to use the Query Disk Format command 
to analyze the format of side 0, track 
of a disk. The equivalent in simplified ML 
(machine language) would look like: 



Idx J$00 




9tx If fee 




Ida /(r$ef 




Idx #908 




Idy (if$af 




jar $ffba 


;3etlf3 


Ida #$00 




Jar $ffbd 


^setnam 


jsr $ffc0 
Idx #$ef 


;apen 




Jsr $ffc9 


jchkout 


Ida #$85 




jsr $ffd2 


;chrout 


Ida #$38 




Jsr $ffd2 


jchrout 


Ida $#ea 




jsr $ffd2 


;chrout 


jar $ffcc 


;circhn 



The first two instructions are the ML 
equivalent of BASIC'S bank 15 state- 
ment. This instruction should be used in 
ML whenever you want to call Kernal 
routines because they are all located in 
BANK 15. The Kernal jump table ad- 
dresses are all the same as other Com- 
modore computers. (The C-128 also has 
several new Kernal routines, only one of 
which is of interest for burst mode. The 
Spin/Spout routine, which is used for 
burst writes, will be discussed in the next 
installment.) The bank switching is handl- 
ed automatically by the open statement 
in BASIC. If there is a possibility that the 
disk drive connected to the C-128 is not 
a 1571 or that the 1571 has been set to 
1541 mode, you can test bit 6 of the fast 
serial Jhig (RAM location $0alc, decimal 
2588). If this bit is set after an open 
operation (in either BASIC or ML), then 
the drive is a. fast device (i.e. a 1571 in 
fast mode). 

The second step is to initialize the in- 
terrupt register of CIA 1 and to tell the 
serial bus that you are ready to receive 
data. It is easiest to do this with machine 
langucige; 



sei 




bit 


¥dcBd 


Ida 


IddSe 


eor 


#$1B 


sta 


$ddeB 



last instruction to return to the calling 
program. The first instruction disables 
the normal processor interupts, such as 
keyboard scanning. This has the effect of 
increasing the amount of time that the 
hardware can dedicate to data transfer 
and eliminating the trapping of keyboard 
presses which may cause errors during 
data transfers. The bit instruction is us- 
ed to reset the Interrupt Control Register 
(ICR) of CIA 1. The final three instruc- 
tions toggle the state of the Acknowledge 
and Ready For Data (ARFD)line, which 
is used as a clock during the burst 
transfer. This is a signal to the system 
that we are ready to receive data. 

The third step is to read the burst data. 
The basic subroutine for reading burst 
data bytes is quite simple: 





Ida #$0B 


wait 


bit $dc0d 




beq wait 




Ida tddBB 




eor #$ra 




sta $dd0fl 




Ida |dc0c 




rts 



If this procedure is being called as a 
subroutine, from either BASIC or ML, 
then you will need to add an rts after the 



The first three instructions create a wait 
loop until bit 3 of CIA 1 is ICR is turned 
on. This condition indicates that a byte 
is ready to be received. The next three 
instructions toggle the state of the ARFD 
line, causing a data byte to be transfer- 
red. The final two instructions read the 
data byte from the CIA 1 data register 
and return to the calling program. To 
store this byte, an indexed sta instruction 
similar to: 

sta ($fa) ,y 

is normally used (assuming zero page 
locations $fa and $fb contain the low and 
high bytes respectively of the data buf- 
fer, and the y register used as an index). 
The read subroutine is often called from 
an indexed loop, especially when reading 
blocks of data. It is important that you 
keep track of the number of bytes 
transferred and that your indexing 
method can handle the number of bytes 
involved. A summary of annotated 
assembly language routines needed to 
read each of the burst mode commands 
is given in Table 1 . These routines can be 
entered directly on the C-128 with its 
built in monitor by replacing the labels 
(e.g. wait, next) with absolute addresses. 



18 Issue 24 



The most convenient location for the ML 
is the cassette and RS232 buffers begin- 
ning at SObOO (decimal 2816). The com- 
bined buffer space gives you 768 bytes for 
ML. (Remember that the number of bytes 
transferred for a sector read is 1 + the 
number of bytes per sector. MFM format 
disks may have sector sizes of 128, 256, 
512, or 1024 bytes per sector. Fast load 
GCR sectors have 254 bytes per sector. 
The number of bytes transferred for 
other burst mode commands depends on 
the command. See Part 1 of the burst 
mode article for a complete description 
of each command.) In order to use the I/O 
and Kernal routines, the C-128 must be 
set for bank 15. Unfortunately, this also 
limits the maximum size of a data buffer 
to 8k bytes (bank RAM below $4000 is 
visible in bank 15 also.) This limitation 
can be overcome by playing with the 
Memory Management Unit (MMU) con- 
figuration register ($ffOO — all banks) to 
switch between bank and bank 15 on 
the fly. Your machine code must be in an 
area visible to both banks (i.e. below 
S4000, in a location such as the cassette 
buffer) for this method to work. The in- 



dexed sta instruction mentioned above 
should be replaced with: 



Idx 


#$3f 


3tx 


$ff00 


sto 


($fa),y 


Idx 


#$00 


stx 


$ffe0 



The first two instructions set the C-128 
to bank 0. The data byte is then stored 
in the correct bank location. The last 
two instructions switch back to bank 15. 
This simple technique allows you to use 
about 60k of bank as a data buffer. 
There is no need to protect the unused 
RAM in bank from being overwritten 
by variables (they are in bank 1), but don't 
forget to start your buffer above any ML 
or BASIC program that may be occupy- 
ing bank . 

The final step, after all of the data have 
been transferred, processed, and stored, 
is to close the disk channel and restore 
the default I/O. In ML, this is done with: 



cli 

jsr $ffcc 



;clrchn 



It is very important to include the cli in- 
struction. This re -enables the processor 
interrupts that were turned off by the in- 
itial sei instruction in step 2. 

That, in a nutshell, is how to read data 
in burst mode. You will see that the 
longer the file, the greater the advantage 
of burst mode. The machine language 
portion is poked into the the cassette buf- 
fer beginning at RAM address $ObOO 
(decimal 2816). One final note about burst 
fast load. I have found by experience that 
the only way to get consistent perfor- 
mance from this command is to append 
the DOS wild card character * to the end 
of the filename. I suspect that the 
somewhat quirky (what else is new?) 1571 
operating system expects to have a full 
16 character filename (i.e. padded with 
shifted spaces) for the burst fast load 
when it searches the directory for your 
file. Using the DOS wild card eliminates 
this problem. Fortunately, fast load is the 
only burst command which uses a 
filename. In the next installment, we shall 
examine burst mode writing. □ 

More programs overleaf 



Summary Of Assembly Language Burst Hade Read Routines 



General fleod-a-burst-byte Routine 
(used by all subroutines below) 



iulti-Byte Read 

(for Query Disk Format) 



readi 


Ida #$08 




wait 


bit fdcfld 


;wait for bit 3 




beq wait 


; of CIAfl ICR 


read2 


Ida $dd0B 
eor #$10 
sta $dd0B 


; toggle clock 




Ida $dc0c 


;£et data byte 




rts 





Note: Before using any of the following 
routines, you must load zero page 
locations $fa and $fb with the low and 
high bytes of the start of your data 
buffer and call the appropriate burst 
mode command . 

Single Byte Read 

[used for Inquire Disk, Inquire Status 

and Read Sector Interleave] 



Idy 10 

sei 

bit $dcBd 

jsr read2 

Jsr readi 

sta ($fa) , 

cli 

jmp $ffcc 



;reget painter 
;disable interrupts 
;clear CIA#1 ICR 
; signal when ready 
;read byte 
; store byte 
;re3tore interrupts 
;clear I/O channels 



exit 



store 



Idy 
sei 


IB 




bit 


$dc0d 




.isr 


read2 




Jsr 


readi 




.isr 


store 




cmp 


#2 




bcc 


exit 


;GCR disk 


and 


#$ee 




cmp 


#B 




bne 


exit 


;IIFI1 error 


jsr 


readi 


; read status byte 


I9r 


store 




and 


#$Be 




bne 


exit 


;MFII error 


Jsr 


readi 


;# sectors/track 


Jsr 


store 




jsr 


readi 


; logical track # 


Jsr 


store 




jsr 


readi 


;minimum sector f 


Jsr 


store 




jsr 


readi 


;fflaximum sector # 


Jsr 


store 




jsr 


readi 


;CP/H interleave 


,1sr 


store 




cli 






J"«P 


$ffcc 




sta 


($fa).y 


; store byte 


iny 




; increment pointer 


rts 







TPUG Magazine 19 



Read N Sectors Of Data 




Idx 


#0 




( 128 byte MFM sect< 


ars) 




stx 
iny 


fffB0 




Idx #( number of sectors) 




cpy 


#0 




atx |fc 






bne 


nextl 




Idx #0 


;# sectors read 




Idx 


•fe 




stx Sfd 






dex 






sei 






stx 


$fe 




bit $dc0d 






inc 


»fb 




Jsr read2 






cpx 


#0 


;end of sector? 


next2 Idy #B 






Idx 


$ff 




Jsr readi 


;read status byte 




stx 


»fe 




and f90e 






bne 


nextl 




crap #e 






Idx 


Ifd 




bne end 


;end if error 




inx 






nextl Jsr readi 






cpx 


Ifc 


; last sector? 


Idx |$3f 


;£oto bank 




bne 


next2 




stx $ffBe 




end 


cli 






sta (ffa),y 






J»P 


Iffcc 




Idx #0 


;goto bank 15 










stx 9ff00 












iny 












cmp #$80 


jend of sector? 










bne nextl 


;get next byte 


Fast 


Load 


Entire F 


lie 


Idx $fd 




[254 


byte 


SCR sect 


ors) 


inx 












cpx $fc 


;la3t sector? 




sei 






beq end 






bit 


$dc0c 




stx $fd 






Jsr 


read2 




tya 




next2 


Jsr 


readi 




clc 






sta 


$fc 




adc |$Be 


;inc pntr 128 bytes 




cmp 


#2 




bcc next2 


;read next sector 




bcs 


last 


jlast sector In file 


inc $fb 






Idy 


#0 




Jinp next2 




next 


Jar 


readi 




end cli 






Idx 


#»3f 




Jmp ffcc 






stx 
sta 
Idx 
stx 
iny 


$ff00 
($fa),y 

la 

$ff00 




Read N Sectors Of D 


ata 




cpy 


#$fe 


;only 254 data bytes 


(256 byte GCR or 2B6*n byte MFM sectors) 




bne 
tya 


next 










clc 






Idx |( number 


of sectors) 




adc 


$fa 




stx Ifc 






sta 


Ifa 




Idx #0 






bcc 


next2 




stx ffd 






inc 


Ifb 




Idx #( sector 


size/2B6) 




Jmp 


next2 




stx $fe 




last 


Jsr 


readi 


;£et 1 bytes in last 


stx Iff 






sta 


Sfc 




ael 






Idy 


#0 




Idy 10 




next3 


Jsr 


readi 




bit $dc0d 






Idx 


#$3f 




jsr resd2 






stx 


$ff00 




next2 Jsr readi 






sta 


(»fa),y 




and #$0e 






Idx 


#0 




cmp #0 






atx 


$ff00 




bne end 


;end if error 




iny 






nextl jsr read! 






cpy 


Ifc 


;laat byte? 


Idx #$3f 






bne 


next3 




stx $ff00 






cli 






sta {»fa),y 






J"P 


Iffcc 





20 Issue 24 



The 1526/MPS 802 Printer 



by Ran]an Bose 

The last year or so has seen many new 
peripheral devices being introduced for 
the Commodore 64. Printer manufac- 
turers have not lagged behind. The latest 
development has been the introduction of 
Commodore compatibles such as the 
Gemini-SGC model, specifically for the 
Commodore 64. 

The prices of Commodore printers have 
been dropping steadily, and the 1526 
(now marketed as the MPS 802 with few 
changes), which sold for as high as five 
hundred dollars in 1983, can now be pur- 
chased for about three hundred. The 1526 
is no match for most other non- 
Commodore dot matrix printers, which 
support a myriad of functions like under- 
lining, superscripts and subscripts, italics, 
multiple fonts, pitches and bit mapped 
graphics. However, if you are satisfied 
with a fairly decent character font and ex- 
cellent tabular formatting and do not 
need to do a lot of custom-designed 
graphics, and if you want all this without 
burning holes in your pocket, by all means 
buy a 1526 printer. 

The earlier 1526s had several problems, 
such as blocking the serial bus (specially 
with the VIC 20), and incompatibility 
with several word processors and other 
programs. Commodore has since produc- 
ed a new version of the 1526 ROM to 
make the machine compatible with their 
Plus/4 and C-16 computers. This version 
is called 07C (part # 325341-08; the older 
version was 05.) To check which version 
you have, switch your printer on while 
keeping the paper advance button press- 
ed. The printer will initiate a self -test and 
report the version number on the top line. 
To stop the test, turn the printer off. 

The 1526 allows the creation of one dot- 
addressable graphic character. To do this, 
draw an 8 by 8 matrix on paper, and 
darken the cells required by the character 
to be created. Think of each vertical col- 
umn of 8 cells as the column of 8 printing 
pins in the print-head. The lowest cell has 
a value of 1, the next one higher up is 2, 
then 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128 (the topmost 
cell). The value for one entire column is 
the sum of the values of the darkened 
cells. The values range from (a blank 
column) to 255 (a dark column). A whole 
character is represented by 8 such values, 
each representing a column. 



To define this new character for the 
printer, open a file vrith a secondary ad- 
dress of 5 (open 1,4,5), then create a 
string by concatenating the eight column 
totals you have calculated (a$ = 
chr$(vall) + . . .chr$(val8)), and print 
the string to the open file (printifl,a$). 
A custom character defined in this way 
can be referenced from then on as 
chr$(254). 

If ynu need more than one such 
character, there are two things to bear 
in mind. If your line containing the 
custom character is longer than 80 
characters and is printed over two lines 
(wrapping), you cannot redefine another 
character once the wrapping has occur- 
red — the earlier character gets printed 
in spite of the redefinition. Secondly, if 
you want to print two custom characters 
on the same tine, you have to execute 
chr$(141) (carriage return without line 
feed) before you can define subsequent 
characters. The trick is to define a 
character, print it, print chrS{141), tab 
the print-head to the next print position 
(since the carriage has returned to col- 
umn 1), and repeat. This procedure re- 
quires you to keep track of what column 
you have to print to next; tabbing to that 
column is achieved by sending the column 
number after a chrSl[16). Both the follow- 
ing commands will print at column 51: 

print#1 ,chr$( 16) chr${ 5) chr$ 

( 1)"hi" 
print#1 ,chr$( 16) "B1" 

Now comes the time to let you in on a 
couple of great undocumented Com- 
modore mysteries. The manual says that 
while defining a character you should 
send a string of 8 characters. If you are 
using a version-05 1526, or are defining 
only one character, you are fine. But if 
you have a 07 ROM in your printer and 
wish to define multiple characters, you 
have to send nine characters, or you will 
get terminator errors and no custom 
characters. The ninth byte is not printed 
and can be anything. I usually stick with 
the safe non-printing zero. 

The implications are clear. If you want 
to work with a foreign character set, the 
1526 will be impossibly slow. Nor is the 
machine ideally suited for high -resolution 
screen dumps, although an excellent 
public domain program for that purpose 
by Ajay Jindal can be found in the TPUG 
library. What the 1526 is really good at 



is formatted tabular output (right or 
decimal justified for numbers and left 
justified for alphabet) for applications like 
business reports 

For this you must define a string defin- 
ing the output fields to be used. This 
string uses special codes to denote dif- 
ferent types of formatting: A for string 
variables, $ for the dollar sign and 
amounts, 9 for numbers, the period for 
decimal alignment, and so on. The format 
is activated by printing the string to a file 
\vith a secondary address of 2. Unformat- 
ted data that is sent to a file with a secon- 
dary address of 1 will be formatted ac- 
cording to definition before being printed. 

You can use the paging option to get 
reports or program listings that do not 
run over the seams between two sheets 
of fanfold paper. This is done by printing 
chr$(147) to an open printer file. Printing 
a chr$(19) rolls the paper up to a fresh 
page. You can control line spacing in in- 
crements of l/216th of an inch, and can 
vary the number of lines per page. Piles 
with secondary addresses of 6 and 3 let 
you accomplish these feats. 

The 1526 also supports enhanced prin- 
ting. Characters can be printed in normal 
width, double width, triple width or 
quadruple width, depending on the 
number of chr$(14) codes sent before the 
character (including custom-defined 
characters). You can print reverse field 
characters (white on black background) 
by sandwiching a string between 
chr$(18} and chrS(146) codes. D 



TPUG BBS 

The NEW telephone number is: 

(416) 273-6300 

Operating hours: 

24 hours per day 

7 days per week 

The password is . . . 



EXIT 



TPUG Magazine 21 



Fun with function keys 



by M. Garamszeghy 

Copyright ® 1986 M. Garamszeghy 

Some computer operating systems (such 
as CP/M and MS-DOS) allow you to 
create a disk file containing a series of 
common key strokes or commands that 
can be executed without having to type 
them in from the keyboard each time they 
are used. This is different from the ex- 
ecution of a regular BASIC or machine 
language program in that it is generally 
used for immediate mode, 'housekeeping' 
commands to set up default input/output 
configurations, or to specify the sequen- 
cing or job queuing of other program 
files. With MS-DOS, this is called a DOS 
'batch file' (denoted by the file name ex- 
tension .bat on the disk directory). The 
equivalent in CP/M is a 'submit file' (.sub 
on the directory). Some sophisticated pro- 
grams, such as Lotus 1-2-3, incorporate 
a similar feature. When operating from 
within such a program, the process is 
usually called a keyboard macro. 
Whatever you choose to call it, this han- 
dy feature allows you to store a series of 
frequently -used keystrokes or commands, 
and execute them on demand by enter- 
ing a single keystroke or command. 

Experienced CP/M users will know that 
the submit feature is available on the 
C-128 when operating in CP/M mode. 
What most people don't know, however, 
is that BASIC 3.5 (on the Plus/4 and C-16) 
and BASIC 7.0 (on the C-128 in native 
mode) also incorporate a similar, though 
slightly less sophisticated, feature. The 
trick lies in the creative use of the func- 
tion keys. 

BASIC 3.5 and 7.0 have an intrinsic 
command called key, which allows you to 
assign a string of alphanumeric 
characters to a given function key. The 
string of characters will be recalled, 
printed on the screen and executed (if ap- 
plicable) each time the key is pressed. The 
syntax is: key n, "string" for a string 
constant enclosed in quotes; key n, (a$) 
for a string variable; or key to list the cur- 
rent key definitions. 

In the first two cases, n is a numeric 
constant or variable corresponding to the 
function key number (1 to 8) being defin- 
ed. There are two more programmable 
keys on the C-128. These are the help key 
and the shift-run/stop key combination. 
Unfortunately, the definitions for these 



keys cannot be changed with the key 
command. More on this later. 

Normally, the function keys are defin- 
ed with single commands. Unlike other 
versions of BASIC that have a similar 
key command (such as IBM BASIC), you 
are not restricted to entering just one 
command per function key. In fact, the 
only restriction on function key defini- 
tions is that the total string length for all 
ten keys combined cannot exceed 246 
characters on the C-128 (slightly less in 
BASIC 3.5), with a maximum of 128 
characters for any key. If all ten keys are 
defined, this is equivalent to an average 
of 25 characters per key — nearly dou- 
ble the maximum of 15 per key allowed 
by IBM BASIC. If only four keys are 
defined, the average size is 61 characters. 
Using all ten programmable keys, you can 
have the equivalent of eleven BASIC pro- 
grams in RAM at a time! 

Of what practical use is this capabali- 
ty? Let me give you a few examples. To 
list a program on a printer, you would 
normally tjfpe in something like: 

open 4,4 :cmd4: list 
print#4:close4 

If you are doing a lot of listing while 
debugging a new program, you can define 
a function key to do the same task with 
a statement like: 

kBy1,"open4,4:cmd4:li3t"+ch 
r$C 13) +"print:#4:close4"+c 
hr?[ 13) 

Now each time you want to list a pro- 
gram, you need only press f1 . The rest 
is automatic. The printer file is even pro- 
perly closed after the listing. You can list 
a disk directory to your printer with a 
slight variation of the above sequence: 

key2, "load"-fchr$( 34) +"f "+ch 
r5C34)+",8" + chr$C 13)+-ope 
n4,4:cmd4:list"+chr$( 13)-k 
"print#4:clo3e4"+chr$(: 13) 

These examples include two special 
characters (chr$(13) and cKr$(34)). The 

first is a return, which must be included 
in the key definition if you want the com- 
mand to executed when you press the 
function key. As shown in the examples, 
the command string can be broken up in- 
to more than one logical line by inserting 
more than one chrS(13). The second 
special character is the double-quote. 



which must be used to delimit file names 
and so on instead of literal quote marks. 

In short, any series of BASIC com- 
mands that can be entered from the 
keyboard in direct mode can be assigned 
to a function key, allowing you to store 
several mini-programs in memory in- 
dependently of a major BASIC or 
machine language program. If you wish 
to abort a command sequence once it has 
started, the usual run-stop/restore key 
combination will terminate any key com- 
mands in progress and return you to im- 
mediate mode. Error conditions cannot 
normally be detected . The computer will 
print an error message and attempt to ex- 
ecute the next statement if there is one. 

One of the main advantages of using 
batch command files and keyboard 
macros is that the sequence of commands 
can be stored in a disk file for later recall 
and use. This is also true for Commodore 
function key definitions. On the C-128, 
key definitions are stored in RAM loca- 
tions 4096 to 4352 in bank 0. They can 
be saved to disk with the following sim- 
ple command: 

bsave"filename",ba,p4B96 to 
p4352 

To retrieve the definitions, type; 

bload-filename'.bB 

With the Plus/4 and C-16, which lack the 
bsave and bload commands, the easiest 
way to save and load the definitions is 
from within the machine language 
monitor. Enter the monitor with the 
monitor statement. To save the defini- 
tions, type: 

3 "filename", 08, 05SF,0SE7 

To load the definitions, type: 

1 "filename" 

Function key definitions can also be us- 
ed with many BASIC extensions available 
for the VIC 20 and C-64, such as the Pro- 
grammers' Aid Cartridge. The length 
and sophistication of the definition string 
depends on the BASIC extension being 
used. Most, however, will allow you to 
assign more than one command to a given 
key. In addition, if you know where the 
key definition buffer is located, you can 
usually save the new definitions for 
future use. 

The help and shift-run/stop keys on 
the C-128 are a bit more difficult to pro- 
gram . The Keyedit program in the box 



22 Issue 24 



accompanying this article, is a BASIC 7.0 

program that allows you to redefine all 
the programmable keys on the C-128. The 
program also allows you to load and save 
the key definitions in disk files for later 
use. Key edit is simple to use by follow- 



ing the prompts and menus displayed on 
the screen , It can be used with either a 
40 or an 80 column display. The routine 
for redefining the help and shift- 
run/stop keys can easily be adapted to 
your own programs if desired. D 



10 trap26B:cr$=chr$( 13) :pri 

m. garamszeghy" cr$ " o 
20 print" 1: load key defs" 

it a key"cr$ "4: save ke 

<2 spaces>selection''; s 
30 ifs<1then10:el3eifs>4the 

230 
40 £oaub90:directory:fl$='"' 

fl$:iffl$=''"thBn10 
50 bload(fl$) ,b0,p4096:ifds 
60 print" current key def 

4096to4103: l=l+peek( i) 

105) 
70 lo=4106+l:hi=410B+l+3:go 

x$:lo=hi+1: hi-4105+l+s+ 

print" total key defini 
80 print" press a key to c 
90 print" " :char,5,24, "or p 

u ":return 
100 gQsub90:print"edit key 
2: f2"cr$" 3: f3",,"4: 
" 7: f7",,"8: f8":s=a 
110 print" 9: s-run/stop" , " 
< space > key" ;s:if9<lQrs> 
120 print" " :char,2,21, "pre 
ition or": char, 2, 23, "[ 
w definition * 
130 print" key #";3;" cu 



nt" function key editor by 

ptians:":s=0 

cr$"2: list keys"cr$"3: ed 

y defs"cr$"S: quit":input" 

nend:elseDnsgoto40,60, 100, 

: input" filename to load"; 

then2S0:else10 

initions: " :key : l»0:fori* 

next : 3=peekl4104) :h=peek{4 

9i(b280: print" s-run/stop," 
h :gosub288: print "help, "x$: 
tian length "l+s+h 
ontinue":getkeya$:goto10 
res3 [return] for main men 

definition"cr$" 1; f1",," 
f4"cr$" 5: fS",,"6: f6"cr$ 

10: help": input" select a 

10then10 

Bs [esc] to keep old def in 

3hift]-E return] to keep ne 

rrent definition: " :nd$= 



140 l=0:fori=1to3:l=l+peeK(4094+i) :next : 1d=4106+1 :hi= 

4105+l+peek(409B+s) : gosub280:printx$cr$" new de 

finition >> "; 
150 getkeya$:ifa$=chr$(27)then100;elseifa$=chr$[ 141) t 

ben190 
160 ifa$<>chr$[ 13)anda$<>chr$(34)thenprint""a$" ";:nd 

$=nd$+a$:£Dta1S0 
170 ifa$-chr$( 13)thenprint" +chr$( 13)+ "; :nd$=ndf+a$: 

goto150 
180 ifa$'»chr$(34) thenprint" +Ghr$C34)+ "; :nd$=nd$+a$: 

goto150 
190 ifs<9thenkey( s) ,nd$:goto100 
200 x=peek(4095+s) :poke409S+3,leoCnd$) :ifs=t0then for 

i = 1talen(nd$) :poke410B+l+i,a9c(mid$( rVd$,i, 1) J :nex 

t:£oto100 
210 a$-"":le"»l + x+410S:fori = le+1to]e+peek(410B) :a$=a$+ 

chr$( peek( i) ) :next 
220 nd$-nd$+a$:fori=1tDlen{nd$) :pokel+i+410S,asc(mid$ 

{nd$,i, 1)) :next:gotDl00 
238 gdsubg0:print" file last loaded ";fl$:f s$-"" : i 

nput" filename to sawe";fs$:iffa$=""then10 
240 bsawe{fsj) ,b0,p4096top4352:ifdsthen2B0:else10 
230 ifds=63theninput" file exists. .overwrite y/n";Qf 

:ifo$<>"y"then10:else270 
260 print" disk error ;"cr$cr$ds$:rBBume80 
270 open1B,8, 15, "s0:"+f s$;dclose:goto240 
280 x$=chr$C34) :fori=lotDhi:ifpeek[i)=13then x$=x$+ch 

r$(34)+"+chr$(13)+"+chr${34) :goto300 
290 if peekC i) =34thenx$-x$+chr$( 34) +"+chr$( 34) +"+Ghr$f 

34): elsex$=x$+chr$tpeek{i)) 



Electronic Phone Book 

1) Insert your COMAL disk in drive*. 

2) Type LOAD "C64 COMAL*",8 
3} Type RUN (starts COMAL) 

4) Type AUTO (turn on auto line#'s) 

5) Enter the program lines shown below 

(COMAL indents lines for you) 

6) Hit RETURN key twice when done 

7) Type RUN 

e=enter f=find l=liat 

f 

What name? COMAL 

COMAL Users Group 608-222-4432 

0010 dim name* of 20, phonej of 12 

0020 dim diskj of 2 

0030 black;=0; white:=l; yellow:=7 

O040 background black 

0050 repeat 

0060 pencolor white 

0070 print "e=enter f=find l=list" 

0080 case key$ of 

0090 when "e","E" 

OlOQ enter'name 

0110 when "f',"F" 

0120 input "What name?": naraej 

0130 fmd'name(name$) 

0140 when 'T/'L" 

0150 fmd'nameC") 

0160 otherwise 

0170 print chr$(147) //clearscreen 

0180 endcase 

0190 until true=false //forever 

0200 // 

0210 proc enter'name 

0220 input "Enter name : ": name! 

0230 input "Enter phone: ": phonej 

0240 if name$>"" then add'toTile 

0250 endproc enter'name 

0260 // 

0270 proc add'toTile 

0280 open file 2, "phone.dat", append 

0290 di8k$:=status* 

0300 if diskS<>"00" then 

0310 close // data file not found 

0320 open file 2, "phone.dat" .write 

0330 endif 

0340 write file 2; name$,phone$ 

0350 close 

0360 endproc add'toTile 

0370 // 

0380 proc fmd'name{BearchJ) 

0390 zone 21 // set auto tab to 21 

0400 pencolor yellow 

0410 open file 2|"phone,dat'',read 

0420 while not eof(2) do 

0430 read file 2: name$,phone$ 

0440 if searchS in namej then 

0450 print name$,phone$ 

0460 endif 

0470 endwhile 

0480 close 

0490 print "Hit <return> when ready" 

0500 while key$<>chr$(13) do null 

0510 endproc fmd'name 

* If you don't have COMAL yet, order a 
Programmer's Paradise PackaRe -$19.9S. 
It includes the complete COMAL system 
plus over 400 pages of information. Add 
$5 more to get our 20 interactive lesson 
Tutorial Disk. Add $2 shipping. Visa/MC 
or US funds check accepted. Send to: 

COMAL Users Group USA 

6041 Monona Drive, Room 109 
Madison, WI 53716 
phone 608-222-4432 

TPUG Magazine 23 



Amiga Dispatches 



by Tim Grantham 

I have always viewed IBM-PC com- 
patibility for the Amiga with some 
bemusement. It seems so incongruous — 
like hitching an ox to a Maserati. Yet 
recent attempts to encourage my friends 
and students to consider an Amiga for 
their first purchase were met with the 
same response, with depressing regular- 
ity: "Yes, but does it run Lotus 1-2-3?" 
Being able to say 'yes' did not make me 
feel any better — if the Amiga can't sell 
on its own merits, perhaps we will have 
to accept that our technoshocked society 
can't absorb any more whiz-bang elec- 
tronics. (Frankly, I believe this sort of PC 
tunnel vision is the result of an elaborate 
conspiracy by IBM, John Dvorak, and 
Jerry Falwell to discourage innovative 
technology and deprive me of my right 
to bare arms.) 

But whatever I might believe doesn't 
change the fact that Amiga dealers can't 
keep the 5'/4 inch drives in stock; that 
orders for the Amiga have jumped (along 
with CBM's stock) since the announce- 
ment of the Sidecar, the hardware PC 
emulator; and that Important Media Per- 
sons who have until now ignored or pooh- 
poohed the Amiga's capabilities have sud- 
denly taken notice and deigned to confer 
legitimacy upon it. Jerry Pourneile, 
reporting on the Amiga/Sidecar combina- 
tion in InfoWorld, was so taken with it 
that he nearly dropped his Kaypro: "The 
next time somebody tells you the com- 
puter revolution is over, tell them they're 
nuts." John Dvorak, also writing in In- 
foworld, went right crazy and said that 
the new Amiga software was "pretty im- 
pressive stuff." 

So I schlepped over to CBM Canada, 
where the folks in Dealer Support kindly 
demonstrated a prototype version of the 
Sidecar. It works as promised, folks. I 
watched PC Flight Simulator run in one 
window, while several Amiga tasks ran 
in others, albeit more slowly than usual. 
I was told that the Sidecar, which is about 
half the size of a PC-10 (Commodore's 
IBM clone) and plugs into the expansion 
port of the Amiga, will come with 512K 
RAM, one 5W inch disk drive, and one ex- 
pansion slot for any PC-compatible card 
(not three, as shown at Atlanta Comdex). 
It will sell for about 800 dollars (Cdn.), 
offers complete, full-speed emulation and 
should be available in the fall. When I 



questioned the reduction in the number 
of expansion slots, I was quoted costs and 
told not to be so ungrateful. 

To be fair, CBM has never claimed that 
the Amiga would replace the IBM PC — 
the emulation was intended to act only as 
a bridge for those using PCs in other 
situations. Yet CBM obviously regards 
promotion of the Sidecar as a grim 
marketing necessity. In these conser- 
vative times, they're probably right. But 
nobody is gonna make me learn MS-DOS; 
AmigaDOS is irritating enough to one us- 
ed to the noble eccentricities of Com- 
modore DOS. 

Cardco is rumoured to be developing a 
C-64 emulator, and another company is 
working on an Apple 11+ and He 
emulator. However, there appears to be 
no truth to the rumour that the Ranger 
will be sold with a Cray XMP emulator. 

Software news 

During a trip to my local Amiga dealer 
the other day, I was very impressed by 
the range and quality of Amiga software 
already available. I was more impressed 
by the absence of vapourware. Products 
that have been announced are, with few 
exceptions, appearing as promised. 

A number of database management 
programs for the Amiga have made their 
appearance. Transtime Technologies 
Corp. have ported their Datamat rela- 
tional DBMS from MS-DOS and Unix. 
This very powerful program makes use 
of the Amiga's multitasking, does stats 
and graphs, and has dBASE III format 
files. Micro-Systems Software's 
Organize! also stores its files in the 
dBASE III format, thought it is not truly 
relational. Also available is Mi Amiga 
File, S99 US from Softwood Co. 

Language news... TDI's Modula-2 
compiler continues to get favourable 
response, particularly because of TDI's 
vigourous customer support and prompt 
bug-fixes . . . COMAL is apparently being 
ported to the Amiga by Unicomal in 
Sweden . . . ABSoft has released Fortran 
77, a compiler for $299 US. . . . Claudio 
Nieder and his colleagues at Rutgers 
University are making available a public 
domain version of the new single -pass 
Modula-2 compiler by Niklaus Wirth. . . 
Lattice's 3.04 version of their C compiler 
is now in beta-test. . . APL Plus for MS- 
DOS machines will run under the 



Transformer, as will PC-DOS 3.2 for S'/i 

inch disk drives . . . 

After some complaints from customers, 
MSS have rewritten the manuals for 
Online! and Analyze!, and added in- 
dexes. I hope they plan to do the same 
for BBS-PC!.., Precision Software's 
famous Superscript, available in versions 
for almost every Commodore machine, is 
being ported to the Amiga. . . The VIP 
Professional spreadsheet is very similar 
to Lotus 1-2-3. At 400K of code, 
however, only 40K of workspace is left 
over! If you have a hard-disk, there is not 
even enough memory free to load the 
demo and instructional programs. The 
program is not copy -protected . . . Ins- 
tant Music from EA (Electronic Arts) is 
scheduled for a June release . . . The 
Music Studio from Activision (§49.95 
US) is not getting a favourable response 
from computer music aficionados. Steve 
Bennett reports that white it does have 
MIDI capability, it only provides a MIDI- 
OUT. It cannot handle slurs, sampled 
sounds, cannot make global key or tempo 
changes in a piece of music, does not use 
the IFF standard for its sound and music 
files and, to add insult to injury, is copy- 
protected. It can handle triplets. . . 

Aegis Developement is offering a deal 
to purchasers of Aegis Draw: a special 
price on Aegis Pro Draw worth more 
than the price of Draw (which should be 
available as you read this). Pro Draw 
should be available this summer. . . Look 
for the debut oi Envisions, another high- 
tech Amiga magazine. For a substantial 
$80 US, you get four issues a year that 
include fancy graphics, a disk, and an 
audio cassette... The official Amiga 
technical manuals are finally being ship- 
ped by Addi son-Wesley and all should be 
available by the time you read this. 

AmigaDOS upgrade 

The 1.2 versions of Kickstart and 
Workbench are now in beta-test and 
reportedly offer significant im- 
provements, including support for the 5 W 
inch drives. In fact, Dave Haynie of CBM 
engineering reports that 1.2 has a facili- 
ty to define new devices, one of which is 
a disk drive. All that needs to be done is 
to specify in a simple ASCII file the 
number of tracks, sides, sectors per track, 
et cetera. Other disk improvements will 
apparently include faster random disk i^o. 



24 Issue 24 



a RAMdisk you can invoke from 
Workbench, and a search path feature for 
program startup and execution. 

Other features include: auto- 
configuration; circle and ellipse drawing 
routines in the Kernel; a 100 per cent im- 
provement in the speed of the areafill 
routine; recovery from guru errors by the 
cancellation of the task running at the 
time of the error ; and windows that scroll 
as the scroll gadget is moved (not after). 

Less good news is that the new version 
will cost somewhere between 25 and 50 
dollars. 

Speaking of enhancements, CBM is ex- 
pected to announce the Amiga 2000 (not 
to be confused with the Ranger), the next 
machine in the promised family of Amiga 
products. This is rumoured to include a 
20 meg hard-drive, 2 meg RAM, an 8086 
co-processor, a 3 'A inch drive, and a 514 
inch drive, all built in. 

Hardware news 

Some mechanical bug reports: John 
Mesiavech reports that the Micro Forge 
hard-drives prevent the use of the PRT: 
device. Pretty serious, if true. . . If you 
ever find that your disk drive(s) don't 
work on your own Amiga but will work 
on another CPU, have the 256K add-on 
memory checked. For some reason, prob- 



lems with this unit sometimes only show 
up in the operation of the disk drives . . . 
The manual for the external 3'/2 inch 
drives warns that you cannot add more 
than one additional drive to the Amiga 
without an external power -supply. Stime 
users have ignored the warning without 
penalty. In some cases, no modification 
was necessary. Some have chained three 
drives by modiijing the power pins on the 
connectors, a simple operation apparent- 
ly. We'll keep you posted . . . CBM is cLir- 
rently repairing Amigas the same way 
they repair C-64s: they swap the mother- 
board vrith a new one . . . 

The Star Gemini SG 10 works well with 
the Epson setting. . . Zenith makes a 
monitor with high-persistence phosphors 
intended particularly for graphics in in- 
terlaced modes such as that used by the 
Amiga. It's called the ZVM-136 and 
retails for a mere 1199 dollars here in 
Canada. 

Studio Amiga 

One of the most interesting, and poten- 
tially most productive ways to use the 
Amiga is in broadcasting. A documentary 
aired on PBS called Trade Wars (about 
the economic summit recently held in 
Japan) used graphics and subtitles that 



had been created entirely with an Amiga 
(featured prominently with the hosts of 
the program). J. Eric Chard tells of us- 
ing Aegis Animator to create animated 
graphics for the television station where 
he works. Broadcast equipment requires 
an interlaced picture, but Animator is not 
intended for this mode. Chard simply 
runs the PD program Setlace, written by 
Bob Pariseau of C-A, before firing up 
Animator, and voilaJ, an interlaced pic- 
ture is produced. The output from the 
Amiga is then run through a time-base 
corrector, and a video processor to adjust 
some phase shift, and a perfectly accep- 
table broadcast-quality signal is 
generated . 

Ajniga7is dispatched: In a late-breaking 
story, CBM has announced a layoff (read 
'dismissal') of some 20 employees at C- 
A, including Bob Pariseau, who was in 
charge of software development and a 
tremendous asset to the company, in my 
opinion. Another 120 employees at the 
CBM West Chester HQ were also given 
pink slips. Jay Miner, general manager 
of C-A, and the designer of the Amiga's 
custom chips, announced that the layoffs 
were primarily in engineering support 
and documentation, and that CBM will 
continue its development and support of 
the Amiga. D 




10% DISCOUNT 
TO TPUG MEMBERS i 

an SOFTWaHF. BOOKS AND ACCESSORIES 
lEXCLUBINn SALES IIEMSI 
PHONE OflMRSACCtPtFO -^ 

VISt/NASTEROARn/ANEX 

(416) 633-5605 



ESC G2 



by Adam Herst 

It is the beginning of May as I write this; 
the long wait for the end of the Canadian 
winter is over. I wish I could say the same 
about the long wait for the release of the 
1750 RAM expansion. From the south, 
along with the warm weather, comes 
news of 1750 sightings at computer 
dealers throughout the United States. 
The Canadian variety must hibernate 
longer, because no such sightings have 
been reported here. 

0128 link 

A couple of months ago I made mention 
of a new product for the C-128 that had 
come into the office for beta-testing. The 
128-Iink, manufactured by Rich-Hill 
Telecom , is a multipurpose interface for 
the C-128: 'multipurpose' because it pro- 
vides for the connection of both IEEE in- 
terface drives and parallel interface 
printers. The package consists of an in- 
terface that plugs into the expansion port 
(a modified version of RTC's 64-link) and 
a ROM chip replacement mounted on a 
circuit board. 

As you might have guessed from that 
last description, this interface requires a 
bit of installation. The manual includes 
diagrams and instructions, but both couJd 
be better than they are now. Nonetheless, 
I was able to perform the installation in 
about half-an-hour with no problems, and 
I'm a far cry from being a hardware 
hacker. It goes without saying (which is 
why I'm saying it anyway) that this in- 
stallation voids your warranty with Com- 
modore. Since this only lasts for 90 days 
(my toaster has a warranty that lasts 
longer than that — a promising subject 
for a future column), this shouldn't bother 
most of us. 

Using the 128-Unk is easy. Its there 
when you turn on the computer, whether 
you are in 64, 128 or CP/M mode. It can 
access both serial and IEEE drives in the 
same session and can alternatively access 
a serial or a parallel interface printer. At 
the start of a session you designate one 
of the two buses (serial or IEEE) as 
primary. This bus can access up to four 
drives, as usual . The other bus defaults 
to the alternative form and allows access 
to a single drive. This drive can take on 
any drive number that is not in use on the 
primary bus, and is designated by you at 
the start of the session. 



The 128-link was pressed into service 
immediately. The work-horses in the 
TPUG Magazine office are PETS and 
4040 or 8050 drives. These were con- 
nected to my trusty 128 with no prob- 
lems . The Mannesmann/Tally printer was 
the next test. NLQ in pica print has never 
been easier. Software compatablilty is a 
bit more of a problem. While the 128-link 
does not interfere with CP/M mode (in 
fact, I was even able to get CP/M to boot 
from a hard-disk!), it does seem to cause 
problems with a limited number of pro- 
grams. Most of these programs involved 
direct disk access, consequently incom- 
patabiiity was not unexpected. Other pro- 
grams developed gremlins. None of these 
programs, however, became unusable. 

The best feature of the 128-link is the 
responsiveness of the manufacturer. Sug- 
gestions about ways to improve 
128-link's performance were both 
solicited and acted upon. Good products 
and continued support go a long way 
towards extending the usefulness of any 
computer. It is comforting — and hardly 
surprising — to find out that the C-128 
is generating that quality of interest. 

CP/M Renaissance 

If the promise of 'all that great CP/M 
softwaip' was one of your reasons for 
buying a C-128, you've probably been 
more than disappointed to learn that 
most of the 'great stuff (that is, the 
'great stuff' you can find) costs as much, 
if not more, than your computer. The 
most frequent complaint I've heard is 
'But WordStar costs $500!'. If rumors 
prove true that may no longer be the 
case. A spfcial C-128 version of Word- 
Star, priced at S99 dollars, is supposedly 
the works. ESC G 2 will keep you 
posted on 'he latest flashes. 

\\'hile good news in itself, a $99 Word- 
star foreshadows a greater trend. Even 
in the face of the classification of CP/M 
Plus as a 'mature product' by DRI 
(mature products are the orphans of soft- 
ware!), the relea.se of the C-128 may help 
this operating system to flourish rather 
than perish. On top of the hordes of new 
hackers (and Commodore hackers are a 
breed apart), the large installed base of 
these computers in the hands of con- 
sumers accustomed to low-cost software 
is helping to drive down prices — prices 
that had forced high-qualtiy, versatile 



products to stagnate. The inclusion of the 
C-128 as an option in the installation 
menu of many CP/M products (many of 
which come in under the $99 mark) is 
evidence of the impact that the C-128 is 
having. 

Learning to crawl 

From the feedback I've been getting, 
both at the magazine and through the 
C-128 meeting, it appears that CP/M 
mode remains a mystery to many C-128 
users. This is hardly surprising, given the 
disparities between it and Commodore 
DOS. To compound the problem, CP/M 
documentation in the C-128 Useis Guide 
is decidely sparse. While many good 
books are available detailing the use of 
CP/M, few of them include in-depth 
discussions of CP/M Plus (most were 
written when CP/M 2.2 held sway), and 
even fewer (read none) detail the im- 
plementation of CP/M on the C-128. 

This void has just been filled by a 
recently released book from Abacus Soft- 
ware. 'The latest addition to their line of 
C-128 books. The C-128 CP/M Users 
Guide does an admirable job of introduc- 
ing CP/M on the 128. Targeted at the 
Commodore user without CP/M ex- 
perience, this book starts from square 
one. It details characteristics unique to 
the 128, as well as providing a more ad- 
vanced look at the CP/M commands and 
the Z80 ROM in the C-128. You will un- 
doubtedly advance beyond the contents 
of this book fairly rapidly but, to my 
mind, this speaks well for the layout and 
pace of this introductory guide. If you're 
just getting started, this one is a must. 

Because many C-128xisers are just get- 
ting started, either in computing in 
general or CP/M in particular, there is a 
lot to learn. Please let me know of the 
direction you would like to see this col- 
umn take, as well as the scope of the 
topics we should cover. 

Footnote 

As promised, honourable mention goes 
to Dr. M. Tucker Brawner of Savannah, 
Georgia for correctly identifying the 
source of this column's name as being 
"... derived from the CP/M mode screen 
attribute command <e8C> G2 which in- 
itiates 'blinking' display. Ergo. . . Flash". 
Congratulations, Doc, good to see so- 
meone's on their toes. Q 



26 Issue 24 



THE 

COCKROACH 

TURBO-ROM 



A plug-in replacement ROM for the 64, 128 and 

SX64 

. Fast LOAD, SAVE, VERIFY, FORMAT 

• Innocent SAVE with REPLACE 

• Screen dump during execution 

• DOS Wedge: 

disk status; non-destructive directory with wild 
cards; scratch, rename, initialize, validate; clear 
directory and free BAM; change disk device 
number; @P/@; open 4,4:cmd4/print ^t^i: 
close4; load with SHIFT/RUN-STOP; cold 
Start, unnew; compatible with VIC switch 
(LOGO loads in 35 sees); has no tape or RS232 
routines but don't worry; you get two ROMS in 
one - TUI^BO plus original kernal - toggle 
between them 

$60. CDN. $45 U.S. 

Cheque, money order, VISA or MASTERCARD 




kobetek systems limited 
1007 Commercial Street 
New Minas, N.S. 84N 3C4 
(9021 678-9800 



ATTENTION COHHODORE 64/128 USERS 



INTRODUCING THE RAINBOW KESNAL ROM 

We can now offer you an improved Kernal 
ROK that replaces the stock ROM (U1) in 
the C64 or C128 ! This replacement has 
the following features and commands ; 

BUILT IN: 

1. TEN DOS HEDGE COMMAND! 

2. rUNCTiON KEYS ASSIGNED TO : 

F1 ...DlRECTOfir (won't erase memory) 

F2.. .SCREED DUMP F3... LISTS PROGRAM 

F4...RUN PROGRAM IN MEMORY F5... ENABLE 

ML MONITOR IF IN MEMORY... 

F6... CLEAR SCREEN 

F7... DELETE LINE FROM CURSOR TO END. 

FS...SYS TO ADDRESS (DEFINED BY =S} 

3. DEFAULT COLORS TO YOUR CHOICE! 

4. DEFAULT DEVICE CHANGED TO DEVICE 8! 

5. 100% COMPATIBLE WITH ORGINAL ROM! 

6. 100K COMPATIBLE WITH EPYX FASTLOAO! 

7. ALTERNATE FUNCTION KEYS 

B. PERSONALIZED POWER-ON MESSAGE 

9. RESET, UN-NEW, DEVICE 9 OPTION, DISABLE 
OPTION 

10. + 20 MORE CONVENIENT FEATURE! 

11. INSTRUCTIONS FOR INSTALLATION AND 
COMMANDS INCLUDED (older model CSI's 
with a soldered U4 chip require de- 
soldering. ) 

INTRODUCTORY PRICE % 30.00 US 

40.00 CDN-C64-VER 
35.00 US 

45.00 CDN-C64-M0DE 
(128) 

128 MODE VERSION COMING SOON!!! 

MONEY ORDER, MASTER CARD, VISA ACCEPTED 

PHONE: (504) 792-3437 FOR INFO OR ORDER 
...2-9:fiO PH. PACIFIC TIME 

■RAINBOW ELECTRONICS 45421 AIRPORT RD. 

CHLLIWACK B.C. CANADA V2P 7K3 



Ask Someone Who Knows 

If you enjoy Jim Strasma's many books, and his 
articles in tills and otiier magazines, you'll be glad 
hie also edits his own highly-acclaimed computer 
magazine, now In its sixth year of continuous 
publication. Written just for owners of Com- 
modore's many computers, each Midnite Software 
Gazette contains hundreds of brief, honest 
reviews. 

Midnite also features timely Commodore' 
news, hints and articles, all organized for Instant 
reference, and never a wasted word. Whether you 
are just beginning or a long-time hobbyist, each 
issue will help you and your computer to work 
together effectively. 

A six issue annual subscription is $23. To 
subscribe, or request a sample issue, just write: 

MIDNITE SOFTWARE GAZETTE 

P.O. Box 1747 

Champaign, IL 61820 

You'll be glad you did! 



Tune your Computer into 

• MIDI • 



If you own a Commodore, Atari ST, or 
Apple, then you may want to turn it on 
to the world of Music with a keyboard 
and interface. We stock the most popular 
MIDI interfaces (starting at $49,95) plus 
we have a limited offer on the CASIO 
CZlOl Digital MIDI Synth, for only $269 
It's easy to turn your computer into a 
player piano* with the QRS Player Piano 
Roll Disks that feature music from 1900's 
to today (from Scott Joplin to Madonna). 
Interfaces with a 6 song music disk start 
as low as $49.95 and the demo has 
Gershwin playing Rhapsody in Blue. 



We have sequencer soft- 
ware, cables, CASIO and 
KORG keyboards, music 
disks, MIDI interfaces, 
plus more. Write or call 
for more information. 



CALL- 201 -838-9027 
or write us at . 

DISTRIBUTING INC 

I l4SHH..gi,. 2 1 iiullfi N.I mi - 



DEALER INQUmJES INVITED 
♦REQUIRES MIDI KEYBOARD 



Micro Processea 



From * String Thing' 
to Translate Thing' 



by Phil Kemp 

As a means of speedily reading lines of data from disk files, Jim 
Butterfield's String Thing has found use in many a BASIC pro- 
gram . A small modification adds another useful function — code 
translation during file input. 

As a user of Speedscript (the popular word processing pro- 
gram from COMPUTE! 's GAZETTE), I need to incorporate in 
text files some data from 'normal' files (BASIC source listings, 
for example). Now, Speedscript uses files of type PRO, and 
stores the text characters as 'screen code' (l=a, 2=b, 65 = A, 
and so on). So, I need to take any file containing text stored 
in Commodore's 'half- ASCII' code, and copy the data to a PRO 
file in screen code. 

This can, of course, be done in BASIC. Listing 1 shows a 
straightforward program using a translate table — an array of 
integer numbers such that, if i is the code of an input character 
and J is the code we want output for that character , then j = t(i) . 
In my case, I want each input 'a' (code 65) to be output as code 
1, so t(65) = 1. 

This is not difficult. It is, however , very slow, mainly because 
of the use of get to read each input file character. The program 
in listing 1 takes nearly a minute to process an eight-block disk 
file. 

We can speed the process up by using String Thing (available 
on several TPUG disks). Then we can read whole lines from the 
input file into a string variable a$. In this case, for each line 
read in , we need a f or . . . next loop containing a character 
translation statement of the form: 

prlnt/!(N,chr$C t( asc((nid( a$, i , 1)})) ; 

where t is the 'translate table' as before. The BASIC statement 
shown is complex, and runs slowly. There is a better, faster way 
available with little effort. 

If we look at the short machine code routine that String Thing 
uses to input a line of data, we see that each character is read 
into the 6502 microprocessor's A (accumulator) register, then 
stored in the BASIC string variable a$ in order. If, instead of 
storing the input byte, we transfer the value to the Y register, 
then use it as an index to a translate table, we have our code 
translation. The price? Two extra machine instructions. Now, 
both input and output operations can be done a whole line at 
a time, and are fast. 

Listing 2 shows the completed translate program. Listing 3 
shows a machine language monitor (Supermon) view of the new 
'input' routine; this is identical to String Thing except where 
noted. 



Listing 1 -- Translation in BASIC 

10 dim t{ 2SS) : rem allocate translate 

table space 
20 rem now fill table 
30 for j"0 to 7 
40 for k=J*32 to k+31 
50 u = 32: if J = 1 then vk 
60 if j=2 or j=6 then v=( k and 31) -64* 

( j=6) 
70 t(k)=v 
80 next k, j 

90 tC 13)=31 : t( 192)=32 
100 inpuf'input file";e$ 
110 inpuf'output file";f$ 
120 f$=f$+",p,w" 
130 open1 ,8,2,e$:openS,8,S,f$ 
140 get#1,a$: rem get bytes in turn, 
150 rem and output the translated code: 
160 if st^Bthenprint^SjChrSC t( ascC a$-i-ch 

r${0)))); :goto140 
170 close 1 : print#B icloseB 

Listing 3 -~ the INPUT#1 Routine 

This code is poked into the tape 
buffer area, starling at location 
$0380 (decimal 896) . 



0300 


30 


02 




Idy 


#$02 


;Copy 1st 


0362 


b1 


2d 




Ida 


($2d),y 


; entry in 


0364 


99 


89 


00 


sta 


$0089, y 


;BASIC's 


0387 


c8 






iny 




; variable 


0388 


C0 


06 




cpv 


#$0S 


;table. 


038a 


d0 


f6 




bne 


$0382 




038c 


a2 


01 




Idx 


#$81 


;File #t 


038e 


20 


c6 


ff 


,1sr 


$ffc6 


;CHKIN 


0391 


20 


e4 


ff 


,isr 


$ffe4 


;Get byte 


0394 


c9 


0d 




cmp 


#$0d 




* 0396 


f0 


12 




beq 


$03aa 


;Llne end 


** 0398 


ad 






tay 




;U6e byte 


*» 8399 


b1 


37 




Ida 


($37},y 


;as index 


039b 


a4 


8e 




Idv 


$8e 


;Store to 


039d 


91 


ac 




sta 


($8c),y 


;9trin£ 


039f 


c8 






iny 




; Store 


03a0 


84 


8e 




sty 


$8e 


; length 


03a2 


c4 


8b 




cp.y 


$8b 


jFull? 


03a4 


f0 


04 




beq 


$03aa 


;Y, exit 


03a6 


a5 


90 




Ida 


$90 


;Test I/O 


* 03q8 


f0 


e7 




beq 


$0391 


;Okay 


03aa 


4c 


cc 


ff 


jmp 


$ffcc 


;CLRCHN 



The code is identical to String Thing, 
except for the lines flagged: 

** These two instructions added. 

* These two branches change to 

accommodate the added instructions. 



26 Issue 24 



Lis 


ting 2 -- Translate Thing Completed 


10 


rem copy seq file to pgm file with 


20 


rem character translation by table 


30 


rem based on 'string thing' 


40 


rem *» by Jim butterfieid *« 


S8 


: 


60 


rem make room for table 


70 


poke56,peek(56} -1 :clr 


80 


rem string must be first variable 


90 


3$="abcdef£hijKImnopq'' 


100 


a$=a$+a$+a$+a$+a$ 


1 10 


a$=a$+a$+a$ 


120 


rem above sets string to max (255) 


130 


i'»peekC56)*256+peekC5S] rrem start 




of table 


140 


: 


1B0 


rem set up translate table to 


160 


rem translate cbm ascii to screen 


170 


rem codes used by speedscript etc 


180 


for J=0 to 7 


190 


for k='j*32 to K + 31 


200 


v=32: if J=1 then u=k 


210 


if j-2 or j-6 then w={ K and 31} -64 




*(j = 6) 


220 


poke i+k,w 


230 


next K , j 


240 


poke i+13,31: poke i+192,32 


2S0 


: 


260 


rem ** start string thing »«• 


290 


rem a$ was first variable defined 


260 


rem machine code for string thing 


290 


data 160,2,197,45,153,139,0,200 


300 


data 192,6,208,246,162,1,32,198 


310 


data 255,32,228,255,201,13,240 


320 


data 18 


330 


data 168, 199,SS:rem use table 


340 


data 164, 142, 145 


350 


data 140,200,132,142,196,139,240,4 


360 


data 165,144,240,231,76,204,255 


370 


rem poke input code to tape buffer 


380 


f or j =896 1 o940 : read x: poke j,)(:t=t + x: 




next 


390 


if t<>6 120+ 168+1 77+55t hens top rrem b 




ad checksum 


400 


rem end of string thing setup 


410 




420 


inpuf'input file";e$ 


430 


input-output file";fS 


440 


f$=f$+",p,w" 


450 


openi ,8,2, e$: opens, 8,5, f$ 


460 




490 


rem next sys same as 'input#1,a$' 


480 


sys896 


490 


rem l=3l2e of input (could be 0) 


500 


l=peek( 142] 


510 


if 3t=8 then print#5, lef t$( a$, 1} ; c 




hr$(31) ; :goto 480 


520 




S30 


close 1 : printf!^5:close5 


540 


poke56,peek(56) +1 :rem release tabl 




e memory 



— Micro Processes 

Other code translations can be achieved simply by changing 
the values used for the translate table. The only oddity here is 
in line 780. For most applications, we would not want to change 
the end-of-line character (RETURN). In that case, line 780 can 

be replaced by the simpler: 

980 if st-0 then print#S, left$(a$,l): go 
to750 

A working character code translation program can be had 
simply by typing the code shown in listing 2. A review of the 
'input' code shown in listing 3 may suggest other useful varia- 
tions; character code translation is not the only function easily 
done in machine code. 

Further, String Thing is not the only program that can be 
adapted to serve new purposes. I suggest that, for the price of 
a little thought, many programs can be easily extended in func- 
tion. As a side benefit, the exercise also usually extends our 
knowledge. D 



The MSD: A 
Reappraisal 



by Sean Rooney 

It's early September, 1984. Just received; a brand new, MSD 
SD-2 Super Disk Drive. Methodically you unpack, set up, turn 
on and tune in. Backing up disks was never easier. It was the 
best of times. 

It was also the worst of times, and since then I've been forc- 
ed to replace my MSD-2. Wliy , you ask? Because it's not as great 
as its proponents claimed it to be. Designed for the C-64, C-128, 
VIC 20, Plus/4 or PET, it is indeed a fine drive — when it's work- 
ing. My MSD-2 started to do strange things about ten months 
into its first year. 

At first the MSD's problems seemed to be innocent enough 
(as with icebergs only 90 per cent of the upcoming catastrophe 
was visible). It would start its initialization procedure on power- 
up normally, but about a third of the way through it would lock 
up (and stay that way). Turning it off and on repeatedly would 
eventually fix it. 

It used to be that I could run disk-intensive software like 
COMAL or The Print Shop with no problem. Now they crash 
my drive. The MSD also frequently crashes during a backup, 
a disk collect, a load, or just about anything else. These crashes 
are not all the same. Sometimes, it will go unnoticed until I find 
that the MSD will not catalog when my C-128 tells it to. At other 
times, effects include things like having all the lights flash like 
crazy in totally random patterns — spectacular but nerve- 
wracking. 

Seeking informed advice, I talked with (TPUG's) Louise 
Redgers about the problems that other MSD users have had. 
The MSD-2 seems to have a flaky (read cheap) power supply. 
Mine probably has this fault and a loose ROM socket to boot. 
I say this because tapping the casing with my fingers will 
sometimes cause the drive to work again. 

After experiencing these misfortunes I've decideed to replace 
the MSD-2 with a more reliable disk drive (CBM-4040 with 
Quick-Silver Interface, or 2 1571s). 

Potential users be warned. The MSD-2 may be much more 
useful than the 1541, but only if it works. D 

TPUG Magazine 29 



Micro Processes: 



Expansion Port 
Extender 



by Richard N. Dawson 

If you find it awkward to plug in your expansion cartridges, 
here's a neat, inexpensive solution. 

In an effort to hide all those ugly wires coming out the back 
and sides of the C-64 (for the datasette, disk drive, monitor, 
power cord and so on), I built in a custom panel that butts up 
against the back of the keyboard. The good news was that 1 suc- 
ceeded in hiding all those cables, but the bad news was, I made it 
verj' awkward and difficult to plug in program cartridges such as 
Music Composer, Magic Desk and the new COMAL Cartridge. 
I fantasized some type of an extension system and searched to 
see what was available commercially. I found nothing but large, 
rigid, multisocketed and expensive systems. 

So I set out to build my own Expansion Port Extender. An ac- 
quaintance told me how to make a 22-pin edge card by etching a 
two-sided copper clad circuit board. So I went off to my local 
Radio Shack store, and after a lot of consideration and examin- 
ing products, I purchased the following items: 

• 50 pin card edge connector (Part 276-1566, $4.95) 

• Copper clad boards (Part 276-1591 A, $1.98) 

• Printed circuit board (Part 276-1576, $8.95) 

• 25 cond ribbon cable (Part 272-772, $3.59) 

Procedure 

First, I had to customize the 50-pin socket by cutting it down to 
a 44-pin socket (22 per side). I used a fine-tooth hacksaw and 
carefully cut off the end three pin sockets. I also had to shave off 



COKKODORE 64 

CBACtc uie:h> 



CARTRIDGE 




EXPANSION PORT 



44 PIM 

TWO-SIDED 

SOCKET 



EDGE CARD 
(THO-SIDEO BOARD) 



22-HlRE RIBBON 



approximately 1/8 inch from the other end. I found it helpful 
to use an existing cartridge to make the measurement marks 
on the socket. I have heard that a ready-made 22 pin socket can 
be purchased for about twenty dollars (Cdn.), but I was unable 
to locate a vendor. 

Next, I measured an existing edge card from one of my car- 
tridges and cut the circuit board down to size. I found that using 
a large pair of tin snips worked well and did not rip up the copper 
surface. Since I am not an expert at soldering, I designed the 



edge card to widen the pin circuits so I could more easily solder 
wires to points that were more spread out. Again using an ex- 
isting cartridge, I measured and marked the exact location of 
each pin on the edge of the circuit board, I found the general in- 
structions in the etching kit enlightening (I was a first-time et- 
cher). Using the special pen, I carefully drew each pin location 
and then extended each into a widening circuit. I followed the kit 
instructions regarding the time to bathe the board in the etching 
fluids and presto! — my new edge card was created. 

Next, I carefully stripped each wire of the 22-wire ribbon and 
soldered all the points. I was advised not to use very much heat, 
which might damage the copper on the board. When finished 
soldering, I cleaned all points and surfaces, and then, point-by- 
point, tested each separate circuit to see if there were any shorts 
between pins, or broken circuits. Since all checked out okay, I 
then plugged the new edge card into the new socket, being 
careful not to push the cartridge in upside-down. 1 turned on the 
power, and there it was, the program cartridge! 

Finally, I applied a coat of liquid plastic to the new edge card, 
making sui-e I kept the plastic away from the edge pins. I finished 
up the project by making a small but strong stand for the new 
socket. I wanted it to withstand the pressure of forcing on a 
cartridge. 

One last hint: make a little cap out of plastic to place over your 
new socket to keep out dust and (more important) staples or 
paper clips, all of which can cause a short circuit and damage 
your computer. 

I now have a new location to plug in my cartridges. It has pro- 
ven to be far more 'user-friendly' for my children to use. 

Note to readers: any hardtvare project, carries with it the risk of 
damage to your computer if improperly carried out. Please do 
not attempt the project described in thin ajiicle unless you are 
sure you know what you are doing. -Ed. □ 



Reducing Static 
Shock 



by James M. Ardovltch 

Static electrical shock can be hazardous to your computer. It can 
cause loss of data, lock up the computer so that you have to 
power down and start again or, worse yet, cause permanent 
damage, making it necessary to pay a repair bill. Luckily, there 
is a way to minimize the ha;!ard of stsitic shock. 

At your local hardware store or lumber yard you can obtain a 
length of stainless steel of the type used for counter edging, stair 
nosing and so on. This comes in various sizes and shapes to fit 
any computer station decor. Attach this stainless steel strip to 
the front edge of your desk, printer stand, or even the doorway 
to your room — whichever place offers a convenient location to 
touch with youi- hands before touching any electronic equipment. 

Onto this strip of stainless steel attach a length of wire (#16 or 
larger), with a one megohm resistor in series. Attach this to 
ground — a cold water pipe or the screw in the electrical outlet 
box (if this box is electrically connected to ground through con- 
duit or bx). For even more visual notice of static discharge, con- 
nect a neon bulb in this series atTangement. For this purpose you 
can also use an electrical outlet tester (one that has two leads 



30 Issue 24 



S3 



O 



i 




7//{^/^{///mA' 7m 



r 



mN^mmum w 



with a neon bidb and dropping resistor) to ground the metal strip. 
The resistor is necessary to prevent you getting a good zap of 
static charge; also a pulse isn't generated on the computer. CI 



Cartridge COMAL 

Emulation With 

COMAL 0.14 



by Victor Gough 

A number of members have asked how to use some of the pro- 
grams written with the cartridge version of COMAL on their 
disk version, which lacks some of the cartridge's commands. As 
more of the advanced COMAL programers acquire the cartridge, 
this problem is increasing. 

COMAL is an extensible lanquage. This means that you can 
add new commands to t!ie language as procedures! Let's take 
as an example the command VAL, which is in the cartridge ver- 
sion but not the disk version. 

VAL (XS) returns a value corresponding to the numeric 
equivalent of the string ordinand (for example, VAL ("5") = 
5), or if the string is not an ordinand. This command may be 
replaced in the disk version by the following procedure: 



FUNC val (a$] 


CLOSED 






3:= e 










y:= "." IN a$ 










l:= LEN (af) 










IF y <> THEN y:l 


-y+1 






FOfl x:=1 TO 1 


DO 








IF eXi-A^ IN "1234567890" 


THEN 




3:=s+(0RD[a»(x)) 


-4B)+t laexp (1- 


-x-y}) 


ELSE 










y:y = y-1 










ENDIF 










ENDFOR X 










RETURN s 










ENDFUNC wal 











Notice that the procedure is closed, so all the variables are local 
and have a separate identity outside of the procedure. You may 

not want the procedure cluttering your program listing since 



Micro Processes 

it is supposed to act like a command. You can hide it by 
renumbering it above 10,000. 

This procedure and many others can be found on disk {K)B6. 
F\jrther information about the procedures on this disk can be 
found in Kevin Quiggle's The COMAL Library of Functions and 
Procedures, which is available from the COMAL Users Group, 
USA. D 



Merging 
Program Files 



by M. Garamszeghy 

Copyright © 1986 M. Garamszeghy 

In my BASIC programming, I use a library of standard 
subroutines, or program modules, to perform such tasks as 
selectively reading a disk directory, bubble sorting, disk file 
handling, screen formatting and graphics. Much of the initial 
code for a new program can be produced by combining some 
of these standard subroutines. Customization and optimization 
are relatively minor tasks compared to retyping the same old 
subroutines every time you want to use them. 

The whole concept of combining several subroutines or pro- 
gram files into a single program usually depends on the existence 
of a BASIC command called merge, which performs this task 
automatically. Although Commodore DOS supports the combin- 
ing of two or more data files (append and concat to name two 
methods), a merge cd.imiand for BASIC programs is not 
available as a built-in command, even in the C-128's powerful 
BASIC 7.0. (One of the few sore points I have about my new 
C-128 is its lack of a merge command. Commodore could have 
easily implemented this command in BASIC 7.0 but for reasons 
unknown to mere mortals decided not to. After all, a merge com- 
mand is far more useful than two separate commands (direc- 
tory and catalog) for displaying the disk directory). Merge is 
available, however, with several BASIC extensions such as the 
Programmers' Aid Cartridges for the VIC 20 and C-64, 

Despite this, it is very simple to combine any number of pro- 
gram modules into a single BASIC program. A very simple 
method that I recently developed for my C-128 follows, using 
the programmable function keys. This short BASIC program 
redefines function key f2 and saves the new key definitions in 
a disk file called merge. Enter and run this program first to 
create the merge file. To use it, follow these three easy steps: 

1. Before you start an editing session, type in bload"merge",bO 
to retrieve the special function key defintions. 

2. Load the first program or enter it from the keyboard. 

3. When you want to merge a previously-saved file, type in 
me$ = "filenames", then p7-ess 12 instead of the return key. 'I'his 
step can be repeated as often as you wish without having to 
reload the merge definition file each time. 

That's all there is to it. A series of BASIC commands will be 
printed on the screen and executed while the disk drive comes 
on for a moment. The method is based on a series of immediate 
mode commands that are stored as a function key definition. 
First, the start of BASIC pointer is reset to the end of the first 
program. The second program is then loaded in at the end of 



TPUG Magazine 31 



Micro Processes 

the first. The start of BASIC pointer is then restored to its 

original value and the combined program is ready to run. 



tB rem functionkey merge setup by m. gor 

amszeghy 
2a crl-chr^C 13) :a$-cr$+"poke25B,peek( 45) 

: poke2S1 , peek{ 46) : x=6B298-f re( B) : poke 

4S , xantl2SS : poke46 , x/256"+cr$ 
3fl b$="dloadtme$J"+cr$+"pDke4S,peek(2BB) 

:pokE46,peekf 251)"+cr$:ksy2,(a$+b$) :b 

sawe "merge " , bB , p4096top43S2 
300 next :x$=x$+chr$(3a) :return 



This method is perhaps the easiest way to implement a merge 
command on the C-128. In addition, this method gives you the 
fully merged program in RAM ready to run. There is one 
relatively minor restriction on the line numbering of the pro- 
grams being merged . Since the merge works by appending all 
of the lines in one program module to the end of another, the 
line numbers of the second module must all be greater than the 
line numbers of the first. If you do not adhere to this restric- 
tion, some odd things may happen to the merged program. For 
example , when you list the program you may find that line 50 
comes after line 100, or before line 20. This can be avoided by 
ensuring that the line numbers are in correct sequence before 
merging the programs. 

It should also be noted that this method of merging does no 
error checking, so make sure that the file you specify as meS 
actually exists on your current disk. Not to worry though, a sim- 
ple run/stop-restore key sequence wilt abort the function key 
commands if necessary. D 



Watch That Notch! 



by Karl Thurber 

I rarely 'double-side' my disks, and generally use single-sided, 
double-density disks in my 1541 disk drive. However, I occa- 
sionally purchase double-sided, double-density (DSDD) disks 
when I want to put related programs and data back-to-back. This 
usually requires that a write protect notch be cut out on the op- 
posite side of the disk, a task easily accomplished using a small 
hand punch. 

However, I recently had the experience of being unable to 
write to the back side of a disk so modified, even though I was 
using a certified DSDD disk. After much consternation when 
the disk wouldn't format or otherwise respond , I finally realiz- 
ed that the hole I had punched was not exactly in the right spot, 
having 'eyeballed' its location rather than locating it preciselyl 
This misalignment of the write protect notch caused the disk 
drive to think that the notch was covered, or that the disk was 
single-sided. The fix was simple enough: a slight enlargement 
of the hole was all that was required. 

■\Vhen punching out a new notch, it's best to take another disk 
and fiip it over so as to provide a 'stencil' for the punch-out. 
Simply lay this disk over the one to be punched so that the notch 
is positioned properly over the intended hole, and hghtly ink-in 
the notch using a red felt-tip pen. This will ^ve you the exact 
spot to punch out. n 

32 Issue 24 



A REVOLUTION IN FLYING 




THE ^(/x>9c^l^ JOYSTICK 



A unique product designed for use with FLIGHT SIMULATOR 
ir" to give you accurate and proportional control. Includes con- 
trol Yoke, Throttle, Flaps, Brakes, Gun and Elevator trim. 

OTHER FEATURES: 

• Software program drivers for other Flight programs 
available soon 

• Use with User generated BASIC programs 

• Use with User generated assembly language 
programs 

This is the ONLY fully proportional, continuously variable joys- 
tick control for Right Simulator II. Now your home computer 
can be a truly realistic flight simulator. 

"...I flew all over the map with one landing after another and no 
mishaps." K.C. 

"...1 am getting more use out of Flight Simulator now and will 
continue thanks to your joystick" R.T. 



WARNING; Use of the MicroFlyie joystick may cause 
Right Simulator addiction. Order with caution. 



NOW AVAILABLE DIRECT FROM MICROCUBE 
ONLY $59.95 -I- $4.00 shipping & handling 

(VA residents add A% sales lax) 



Payment enclosed check . 

Bill my MasterCard 

Card# 



money order 

Visa Choice 

Expires 



Signature 

Name 



Address 
City 



State 



Zip 



Computer Model 



MICROCUBE CORPORATION (703) 777-7 157 

P.O. BOX 488 M-F9A.M.-6P.M.est. 

LEESBURG, VA 22075 DEALER INQUIRIES WELCOME 

Right Simulaior II i& a iradcmark of Sublogic C(wp. 



Products Received 



Presented by Astrid Kumas 

The following products have been received 
by TPUG Magazine in recent weeks. 
Please note that tliese descriptions are 
based on the manufacturers' own 
announcements, and are not the result of 
evaluation by TPUG Magazine. 

World Geography 

World Geography from Bobco,200 7tli 
Ave., Suite 111, Santa Cruz, CA 95062. 
Price: 24.95 (US) plus $2.00 for shipping 
and handling. 

World Geography is an educational, 
trivia-type game for the Commododore 
64 which provides information about 
capital cities, location, language and cur- 
rency of 175 countries. 

Throughout the game, the right half of 
the screen displays the world globe, while 
the left window shows the blown-up 
shape and flag of a particular country. 
The player can choose the geographical 
area from which the computer will select 
five countries for each round of the game. 
When the country is found, the player is 
asked to specify the four particulars men- 
tioned above. The correct information can 
be selected from the multiple choice win- 
dow at the bottom of the screen. A cor- 
rect response awards a player with the 
timer value multiplied by 10. The game 
is over when the player has no countries 
left or all of the countries have been 
played. 

World Geography can be played by one 
or two players. It offers three difficulty 
levels: the selected level determines the 
speed of the timer. Players can also select 
the review mode in which the computer 
automatically displays each country with 
the correct answers. 

Spell of Destruction 

Spell of Destruction from Mindscape, 
Inc., 3444 Dundee Road, Northbrook, IL 
600062. Suggested retail price: $29.95 
(US). 

Spell of Destruction is an adventure 
game for C-64/128 computers which is 
played with the combination of the 
joystick and the keyboard. 

In the game the player is to identify- 
himself with an apprentice wizard called 
Drinn . As Drinn, he or she is about to face 
the ultimate trial on the road to mastery 
— The Castle of Illusions. The magnitude 
of Drinn's task is best explained by the 



Loremaster himself: 

"In a few moments you will be 
transported into The Castle of Illusions, 
a place where you will meet every kind 
of demon and your skill both in fighting 
and sorcery will be tested to the full. Your 
task is straighforward, for you shall simp- 
ly have to seek out the Prime Elemental 
in this minor city of illusions, and destroy 
it with a single spell . . , You shall enter 
the Castle with a supply of spells in your 
possession and, of course, a goodly supply 




of Fireballs and your trusty sword. 
. . .there are other spells fo be found 
around the castle as well. . ." 

Spell of Destruction features over 70 
locations, "real-time" action combined 
with problem-solving and strategy and 
"motion picture" musical score that 
reflects the action as it happens. 

Three Games on One Disk 

Brian Bloodaxe,Revelation,Qao Vadis 

from Mindscape, Inc., 3444 Dundee Rd., 
Northbrook, IL 60062. Suggested retail 
price: $14.95 (US). 

For those who like classic arcade/adven- 
ture tjT3e of game this new product for 
the Commodore 64/128 from Mindscape 
will probably be a treat. The disk contains 
not just one but three different games: 
Brian Bloodaxe, Revelation and Quo 
Vadis. The last two games require the 
use of joystick. 

In Brian Bloodaxe the player will in- 
vade Britain and try to find the Crown 
Jewels. While on this mission, he/she will 
have to pass through 100 puzzle-filled 
screens. 

Revelation sets up another challenge: 
the goal is to destroy the Monster of the 
Apocalypse hidden in one of the caverns. 
Before the final confrontation , the player 
must get through forty five caverns fill- 
ed with evi! creatures and deadly towers. 



The game offers different levels of dif- 
ficulty: the higher the level, the further 
into the caverns will be the start of the 
quest. 

The last game on the disk. Quo Vadis, 
takes the player on a quest to combat the 
Dark Lord and free humankind from his 
shadow power. To complete the task the 
player must find the Sceptre of Hope and 
learn the Words of Power. There are 
more than a thousand screens to go 
through. Demons and riddling clues block 
player's way at every path. 

This game presents the additional 
challenge of taking part in the Quo Vadis 
contest and winning the Sceptre of Hope, 
worth approximately $10,000. The con- 
test requirement is to discover all of the 
riddles in the game. Solving each riddle 
will take the player one word closer to the 
solution. 

Windows 

Windows from St. Mars Systems, Inc., 

1400 Clay Street, Winter Park, FL 

32789. 

Windows, a screen processor utility for 

C-64, has been designed to give the user 
windowing capabilities in BASIC or 
assembly language programs. 

A window is simply a rectangle on the 
screen. Various rectangles, each with a 
single menu option written on them, can 
be created using this utility. These win- 
dows may then be overlaid over each 
other to simulate a filing cabinet, 
distributed over the screen, scrolled etc. 

The program features many options 
available to the user and some of them 
are as follows: complete position place- 
ment control; window colour control, 
border presence/absence control, in- 
dependent window scrolling, internal er- 
ror checking, no limit on number of win- 
dows, screen colour control , cursor posi- 
tioning control, formatted data input 
routines, window move commands. 

Floppy Stopper 

Floppy Stopper from The Floppy Stop- 
per Co., Box 53268, Baton Rouge, LA 
70805. 1-800-222-7867. 
Here is some good news for those who are 
tired of having to scrape, tug, pull and 
struggle with sloppy, sticky WTite protect 
adhesive tape tabs. The Floppy Stopper 
Co. is now producing floppy diskette with 
an on-off write protect switch. What's 
more: both diskette and switch have a 
lifetime guarantee. D 



TPUG Magazine 33 



Library Additions 



TPUG's library of public domain soft- 
ware grows month by month. Hundreds 
of disks c<mtaining thousands of pro- 
grains are available to TPUG members at 
the nominal cost often dollars per disk. 
Consideritig that each disk is packed mth 
good programs, at today's software prices, 
this is a fantastic value. 

In order for the library to keep grow- 
ing, our librarians need a constaTii supply 
of new programs. If you have nfHtten a 
program or a collection of programs that 
you thiTik might be an asset to the library, 
please send it to: TPUG Program 
Library, 101 Duncan Mill Road, Suite 
G7, Don Mills, Ontario MsB IZS, 
Canada. If your contribution is accepted, 
you will be sent the libraT^ disk of your 
choice. If, for some reason, your contribu- 
tion is not needed, your original disk will 
be returned to you. 



C-64 disk {C)AB 



Presented by Derlck Campbell 

The April disk is not quite as full as it 
should be. Program submissions are drop- 
ping to an all time low, 

Luscher test.c gives you a personality 
description based on your colour 
preferences, with some added tips on how 
to behave in certain situations, hrg stands 
for High Risk Game — a simulation of 
Risk on the computer for 2 or 3 players. 



"t 


pug apr86 (c)ab" 




5 


"list me.l" 


P 


10 


"iuscher test.c" 


P 


283 


"luscher data.d" 


r 


37 


"hr~boQt" 


P 


66 


"hr~instr" 


P 


108 


"hrg" 


P 


S3 


"library index. c" 


P 


6 


"amiga demo.c" 


P 


10 


"fadein/out" 


P 


40 


"amiga" 


P 



It involves strategy and luck; and it 
comes with full documentation! Library 
index.c is a program filer. The good thing 
about it is that it stores the programs in 
headings: games, utilities, and so on. This 
makes it possible to store the files on 
more that one disk, reducing the possibil- 
ty of running out of space on a disk. 



Amiga demo.c is a graphic representa- 
tion of the one and only Amiga, with it's 
famous bouncing ball, on the 64. 

A couple of quick notes: submitters 
should give themselves credit for their 
program ; put name and member number 
or address in the first few lines of the pro- 
gram. That way we can send you a disk! 
Also, one thing that prevents a program 
from entering the library is the lack of 
documentation. If your program is miss- 
ing documentation, make some up now! 




Prepared by Richard Best 

The past year has been a good one for the 
VIC library, despite the VIC's disap- 
pearance from the marketplace . Orders 
for disks and tapes have been steady, and 
TPUG has every intention of supporting 
this terrific little machine. However, our 
reserve of contributions is getting 
dangerously low, and new submissions 
have been reduced to a mere trickle. And 
the majority of VIC programs are being 
sent in by just a handful of members. The 
VIC library needs your support in the 
form of donations. So get on that idea, 
write the program and send it in. 
Remember, we will send you the 
disk/tape of your choice for your 
submission. 

This month VIC owners are getting 
something special : two disks and a tape. 
On top of the regular monthly release, we 
are adding our first 'freeware' disk and 
a special issue tape. 

The March disk , (V) AA starts out with 
a unique progam called bingo caller. In 
addition to calling bingo numbers, it 
keeps track of called numbers on a 
scoreboard. Games can be started or stop- 
ped at any time. Latin bowl is an educa- 
tional game similar to 'Reach for The 
Top' . The program acts as the timekeeper 
for two teams who must answer ques- 
tions you provide. For less educational 
fun, try bombardier, a familiar depth- 
charge program that runs with a 
Superexpander. 

Sheriff and super fight are clever 
demos done in hi -res. They run on an 
unexpanded VIC and should provide the 
kids with a bit of fun. If you need even 



more amusement, try dyslexia, a pseudo- 
utility that is guaranteed to keep you 
awake. Another demo here is Canada 
map for the Superexpander. (The TPUG 
offices are located directly under the 
flashing dot.) If you're a fan of 'electric 
wallpaper', kaleidoscope will provide 
endless patterns, also using a 
Superexpander. 

Chemistry tutorials are not very com- 
mon, and this month we have two. The 
first, ph titration, will calculate and plot 
the titration of PH, and the other does 
the same for CL. Algebra will drill you 
on two-variable equations. 

More educational amusement is pro- 
vided by 8ynthi-20, a music generator 
that has five different sounds and sets up 
the keyboard like a real piano , If you en- 



"tpu£( v)-aa 03/86 

9 "list-me ( v)-a 
8 "list-me ( w) -a 
6 "bingo caller. 

6 "sheriff .vSk" 

7 "algebra, v5k" 
2 "pixel map.v" 
12 "latin bowl 2. 

11 "super fight. V 
2 "dyslexia. v" 

8 "synthi-20.w" 
6 "ph titration. 

10 "cl titration. 
2 "hflleidoscope . 

9 "canada map.vs 

12 "bombardier . ws 
17 "butter tarts. 
2 "constrictor . w 
43 "finances. v12k 
9 "squeezer . V 12k 
12 "backup 2.v12k 
4 "tiny dir prin 
6 "dir" 



a/1" 

a/2' 
y5k" 



V 

v" 

vsx' 

x" 

x" 

v" 

12k' 



t.v' 



joy working in the kitchen, try butter 
tarts which is a recipe for. . . butter 
tarts. 

This month's utility department is quite 
full . Always useful are programs like con- 
strictor, which hides 8K or 16K ex- 
panders, and pixel map, which will print 
out the value and bit pattern of any 
memory location. 

Disk owners will have a great time with 
finances, a menu-driven package that 
will perform all of your routine business 
calculations, including amortization, 
future values, compound interest etc. 



34 Issue 24 



LibrarY Additions — 

A]so disk-based is squeezer. Translated 
from a PET program, this wonder 
removes idle space and concatenates pro- 
gram lines, and can reduce a program's 
memory requirement by over 10%, 

Two of the handiest disk utilities I have 
seen are backup 2 and tiny dir print. 
Backup 2 is a pro -style copy program 
that copies a disk biock-by -block. It in- 
cludes a format routine and will copy as 
many blocks as possible in each pass. Tiny 
dir print produces a printed copy of a 
disk directory in tiny print in two col- 
umns. The entire directory will fit on the 
front of a disk envelope! 



disks. For starters, it is the first C-128 
disk to feature TPUG's new numbering 
conventions. Do not confuse this disk, 



VIC tape (V)AB 



Pat-40 appeared on {V)TJ last year, but 
it would not run from tape. Tape users 
may now order (V)AB which will boot 
fat -40 and its demo programs from a 
datasette. This tape contains only the 
40-column program, and requires a utili- 
ty to make copies. 



VIC disk (V)AC 



Our first offering in the freeware 
category is a disk-based file manager 
called infer-structure. The program will 
run on any machine but this version was 
tailored for the VIC. It's very powerful, 
has a large capacity, and can search key 
fields amazingly fast. Included is an 18 



1 "tpug [v)-ac free" 




37 "inftpg/BSa.txt" 


s 


12 "infbot/2.1.v" 


P 


2 "infstr/2.1" 


P 


143 "infusr/2. 0.txt" 


s 


4 "list. me" 


p 



page user manual (required reading 
before using the program) and an index 
of TPUG Magazine articles. AJl freeware 
notices are contained in the opening 
screens. 



C-128 disk (Y)AAA 



Presented by James Kokkinen 

Welcome to the third C-128 monthly disk. 
It differs in a few ways from the first two 



1 ' 

6 

1 

25 

S2 

2 

S 

5 

4 

3 

4 

6 

3 

4 

4 

18 

2 

2 

2 

2 

3 

7 

6 

S 

6 

7 

11 

6 

S 

1 

7 

8 

9 

21 

9 

1 

85 

22 

26 

20 

1 

13 

8 

69 

B 

19 

54 

9 

14 

1 

9 

a 

31 



nay '86 (y)a 

"list-me( y) aao" 

" g ame s 

"grungy towers. y 
"adventure c7.y" 
"graphic 1 dump" 
"advf 1" 

2" 

3" 

4" 

S" 

6" 

7" 

8" 

9" 



"advf 
"advf 
"advf 
"advf 
"advf 
"advf 
"advf 
"advf 
"advshor" 
"advf 10" 
"advf 11" 
"advf 12" 
"advf 13" 
"advf 20" 
"advf 21" 
"sduf 22" 
"advf 23" 
"advf 24" 
"advf 25" 
"advf 26" 
"advf 27" 
"advf 28" 
"advf 29" 
"advf 31" 
"advkeys" 
"advitm" 
"advmap" 
"advf 0" 

" misc " 

"C--12B tutorial" 
"trivia c-12B.y" 
"isoplot 128. y " 
"calculator 128. y" 
". . .utilities. . ." 
"128 incl'dir.y" 
"disk tidier c7.y" 
"dd128.img.y" 
"tri directory. y" 
"disk guard c128" 
"3uperdlsh128.y" 
"seq readC 128/80" 
"1S91dd.bin.y" 

". . .terminal " 

"terminal. cl/128" 
"term.c1/128" 
"128 xmadem.cor" 



P 

P 
P 
P 
P 

3 

S 
9 
S 
S 

s 

9 
S 
3 

5 

a 
s 

3 
3 
3 
S 
3 
S 
S 

s 

s 

s 

3 

s 

3 
S 

3 

e 

s 
P 
P 
P 
P 
P 
P 
P 
P 
P 
P 
P 
P 
P 
P 
P 
P 
P 
P 



(Y)AAA, with the first disk, (Y)AA. It's 
a small change, but it will save running 
into numbering problems for a long time. 
Next, this is the first C-128 disk that can 
be considered full, having only 5 blocks 
of available space free. Thanks to all who 
have submitted programs. Please keep 
them coming in. 



Easy Curves 



1) Insert your COMAL disk in drive*. 

2) Type LOAD "C64 COMAL*",8 

3) Type RUN (etarts COMAL) 

4) Type AUTO (turn on auto line#'a) 

5) Enter the program linea shown below 

(COMAL indents lines for you) 

6) Hit RETURN key twice when done 

7) Type RUN 



0010 
0020 
0030 
0040 
0050 
0060 
0070 
0080 
0090 
0100 
0110 
0120 
0130 
0140 
0150 
0160 
0170 
0180 
0190 
0200 
0210 
0220 
0230 
0240 
0250 
0260 
0270 
0280 
0290 
0300 
0310 
0320 
0330 
0340 
0350 



setup 
curve 
paint'it 
add'words 

// 

proc setup 

black:=0; yellow;=7 

background black 

pencolor yellow 

setgraphic //hi res screen 

hideturtle 
endproc setup 

// 

proc curve 

moveto 110,0 

drawto 110,199 

for row:=:0 to 10 step .03 do 
drawto 110-H99*sin(row),row*20 

endfor row 
endproc curve 

// 

proc paint'it 

fill 120,20 

fill 100,90 

fill 120,180 

fill 100,198 
endproc paint'it 
// 
proc add'words 

pencolor black 

background yellow 

plottext 120,155,"comal is a" 

plottext 16,90, "programmers" 

plottext 120,30,"paradise" 
endproc add'words 




Notice how easy graphics are in COMAL. 
Lines 70-100 set up the screen colors. 
Lines 150-190 draw on the screen. 
Lines 230-260 fill (paint) whole parts. 
Even putting text on the graphic screen 
is easy. See linea 320-340. All this is 
standard and built in aa part of COMAL, 
Plus a full turtle graphics system. Now 
you know why there are 100,000 users. 

* If you don't have COMAL yet, order a 
Programmer's Paradise Package -llQ.QS. 
It includes the complete COMAL system 
plus over 400 pages of information. Add 
t5 more to get our 20 interactive lesson 
Tutorial Disk. Add S2 shipping. Visa/MO 
or US funds check accepted. Send to: 

COMAL Users Group USA 

6041 Monona Drive, Room 109 
Madison, WI 53716 
phone 60S-222-4432 

TPUG Magazine 35 



Library Addltionsj 



Here is this month's offering.... 
Following liBt-ine(y)aaa, we have two 
adventure games converted for Ol28use 
from TPUG's extensive C64 library. 
These are grungy towers.y, and adven- 
ture c7.y. Both run in 80-column format 
and will pro\ide hours of entertainment 
for adventure buffs. Graphic 1 dump and 
all of the ADVF sequential files belong 
to adventure c7.y. C-128 tutorial.y runs 
on a 40-column screen and provides ex- 
cellent understanding of C-128 mode us- 
ing the example programs from your 
operating manual for demonstration. 
Trivia c-128.y contains several screens 
of useful information. Isoplot 128.y 
draws isometric pictures on your 
40'Column screen. Add to your math col- 
lection with calculator 128.y which per- 
forms several mathematical functions by 
following the prompts. 128 incl'dir.y pro- 
vides information regarding start and 
ending locations of directory entries. 
Disk tidier c7.y is yet another program 
to scratch unwanted files from a diskette. 
Ddl28.iing.y is the C-128 version of Disk 
Doctor. It runs in 40 column only. Tri 
directory .y prints 3-column directories in 
tiny form if you have a Gemini printer. 
Disk guard cl28 helps protect your 
diskette from accidental erasure. Use 
saperdiskl28.y for multiple utility func- 
tions in 80-column mode and Seq 
read(128/80) to read sequential files 
utilizing your 80-column screen. 
1571dd.bin.y allows copying using 2 1571 
drives. We have included ter- 
minal.cl/128 as a new addition to the 
many programs available to those of you 
who communicate through modems and 
the phone system. 



CP/M disk (Z)AD 
CP/M disk (Z)AE 
CP/M disk (Z)AF 



Presented by Adam Herst 

This has been a busy month for the CP/M 
library and a busy month for me, the 
GP/M librarian. Three disks were releas- 
ed this month and in keeping with the 
CP/M library, all disks are theme disks. 
Many of the files on these disks are con- 
tained in library (.Ibr) files and some are 
in a squeezed (.xQx) format. To turn 
these files into a recognizable form, they 
will first have to be extracted from the 
libraries with lu.com and then unsqueez- 
ed with usq.com or nswp.com. More 
detailed instructions are contained on 



each disk. Lu.com and usq.com are 

available on disk (Z)AB. 

Before using any of the TPUG CP/M 
disks it is a good idea to copy them to a 
fresh disk. The reason for this is that the 
CP/M disks are copied on a 4040 drive 
and the resultant disk may not be write 
compatible with your drive. This is true 
for any TPUG disk and is a safe pro- 
cedure to follow with all of them. 

This disk is a utility disk and is cramm- 
ed full of programs, some of them writ- 
ten expressly for the 128. C1571/2.com 
is version two of cl571.com. It speeds up 
the write speed of a 1571 in CP/M mode 
by disabling some redundant verifying. 
Version one did not support MFM for- 
mats. Type C1571 for more info. 
Fcopy.com is a file copy program writ- 
ten for the C-128. 



zad/type 


me 


bishow 


com 


C1571/2 


com 


cpm2plus 


Ibr 


cpm3-cat 


Ibr 


cpm3util 


Ibr 


d 


com 


d 


doc 


delbr 


cqm 


eraq 


com 


erase 


com 


fcopy 


com 


index 


Ibr 


printer 


Ibr 


qB~cpm3 


Ibr 


regions 


sqg 


scan 


com 


sd 


Ibr 


sq/usq 


ibr 


unerapi 


Ibr 


wipe 


com 


xtype 


com 



A variety of disk utilities are included, 
Eraq.com is an erase with query pro- 
gram. Erase.com is another of the same. 
Scan.com locates bad sectors on a disk. 
Wipe.com wipes .bak etc. files from a 
disk. Cpm3-cat.lbr is a CP/M Plus pro- 
gram to generate and maintain a cat- 
alogue of disks. Sd.Ibr is a small library 
of the sd.com (Super Directory) files. The 
name says it all. Docs are included. 
D.com keeps a chronological record of file 
access. See d.doc for instructions. Qs- 
cpm3,lbr sets disk file attributes. It's 
shorter and easier to use than set.com, 
UnerapLlbr, like a Commodore DOS 
unscratch, will recover erased files. 

Cpm2plus.Ibr is a library of files that 
will let you run CP/M 2.2 specific pro- 
grams under CP/M Plus. CpmSutil.lbr is 
a library of CP/M Plus utility programs 
including a disk editor, directory lister, 
text editor and more. See the included 
documentation for more info. 

To help you extract library files and un- 
squeeze them, variations of already 
released utilities are included. Xtype.com 
will type out squeezed (.xQx) files. 
Sq/usq.lbr is a library of yet another ver- 
sion of the squeeze/unsqueeze files. This 
one rejects files that will not benefit from 
squeezing. Delbr.com will remove files 



from a library file. 

To view and manipulate text files, the 
following utilities are available. 
Bishow.com types a file to screen, let- 
ting you scroll backwards and forwards 
through the file. Printer.lbr contains files 
to set the options on some Epson and 
Okidata printers. 

Index. Ibr contains a program that will 
generate an index to a WordStar -style 
document. See the included documenta- 
tion. 



zae/type me 
e-basic doc 
Othello Ibr 



e-basio Ibr 
e-bgames ibr 



As promised a number of public domain 
languages have been added to the CP/M 
library. CP/M disk Z(AE) contains files 
for a version of BASIC. E-baaic.lbr con- 
tains a number of versions of Gordon 
Eubanks public domain EBASIC, a 
BASIC interpreter. See ebasic.doc for 
elementary instructions. Ebgames.lbr 
contains a number of games that will run 
under EBASIC as supplied on this disk. 
Only the .int files are included, no source 
code. Follow the directions in ebasic.doc 
to run them. As you may expect, they are 
text based games. Othello.lbr is the 
game of othello designed to run under 
EBASIC as supplied on this disk. Source 
code (.bas), .int and .doc files are 
included. 



za-F/type me 
mex Ibr 



kermit Ibr 



CP/M disk Z(AF) is TPUG's second 
telecommunications disk, Mex.lbr con- 
tains the mex.com, mex.hlp files (a full 
featured, professional style, telecom- 
munications package), as well as a 
number of documentation files. 
Mexl lO.ws is a WordStar-style manual . 
It can be printed using vdo.com on TPUG 
disk (Z)AC. The terminal contained in 
Kermit. Ibr has fewer features than 
mex.com but it does support the KER- 
MIT protocol for file transfers, widely 
used for micro to mainframe communica- 
tions. Documentation is included, 

Thats all for this month, I hope it keeps 
you busy until our next releases. 
Remember, if you collect programs from 
some of the other CP/M user groups, 
share them with your fellow TPUG 
members. We all depend on each others 
contributions and it entitles you to free 
disks in return. D 



36 Issue 24 



NAME 



STREET ADDRESS 
CI7Y/TOWN/P.O. 
PROV/STATE 



TELEPHONE 



Software 
==rarm 



POSTALyZfP CODE 
MEMBERSHIP NO. 



TORONTO PET USERS GROUP, tOI Duncan Mill Road, Suite G7, Don Mills, Ontario M3B !Z3 416-445-4524 



disks 




To order club disl<s by mail, send SIO.OO for each 
4040/2031/1540/1541 disl< [4040 format), discount price 
S-IO S9.00 each, 11 or more S8.00 each; and S12.00 for 
each 8050/8250 disk (8050 format|. We do honour 
purchase orders from school boards. 



These disks are for use with a 
Please send me the following: 
3 Letter/No. 
Code 



computer and a . 



disk drive. 



Description 



4040 or 8050 
Format 



Price 



Total S 



.00 



tapes 



' [ ^^ J 



These tapes are for use with a 

If for a PET computer, what model - 

3 Letter/No. Code Description 



To order VIC 20 or Commodore 64 library 
tapes, send S6.00 for each tape. 
To order PET/CSM or Commodore Educa 
tional Software, send SIO.OO for each tape. 

computer and a datasette. 

- BASIC - l.0( ); 2,0( I; 4.0| (7 

Price 



Total S 



,00 



The prices indicated include postage and handling as well as 
Ontario Provincial Sales Tax (if applicable) 

D Cheque/money order enclosed (payable to TPUG) 




Reviews. 



Machl28 

from Access Software 

Fast DOS cartridge 
for the C-128 



Review by Adam Herst 

One of the features most eagerly an- 
ticipated on the C-128 was the increase 
in disk access speeds available in 128 
mode in conjunction with a 1571 disk 
drive. Most 128 users have not been 
disappointed, especially if they cut their 
teeth on the VIC 20 orthe C-64 with the 
notoriously slow 1541 drive. One of the 
most popular fumware additions to these 
systems are fast DOS cartridges, design- 
ed to overcome slow 1541 access speeds. 
Since the C-128 with a 1571 provides 
these increases, a fast DOS cartridge for 
the 1,28 seems unnecessary. 

'Unnecessary', that is, only if you don't 
own a 1541. The 1541 works in all three 
modes of the C-128 and makes an ex- 
cellent utility drive. Unfortunately, 128 
speed benefits do not accrue to the 1541. 
It runs at the same slow speed we've 
come to know how to complain about so 
well. WTiile the C-64 fast DOS programs 
work well in 64 mode, they will not work 
in 128 mode. Also, C-64 cartridges will 
cause the 128 to boot up in 64 mode, and 
must be removed from the expansion port 
for the other modes to be accessed. It is 
with this in mind that I looked forward 
to reviewing Machl28, a fast-load utiH- 
ty cartridge for the C-128 and 1541/1571. 

The Machl28 package consists of a 
standard cartridge. Included is a utihty 
disk with a disk cataloguer program , and 
a program to restructure C-64 architec- 
ture to provide an extra 4K of BASIC 
RAM. 

The cartridge plugs direclty into the ex- 
pansion port with no modification to the 
computer or disk drive(s). On the car- 
tridge is a system-reset button (ex- 
traneous on the C-128) and a switch to 
toggle between 64 and 128 modes of the 
cartridge. The two positions aren't clear- 
ly marked; it turns out that the left side 
is 128 mode and the right side 64 mode. 

The Machl28 works in both the 64 and 
128 modes of the C-128. It would pro- 
bably work on a standard C-64 (if you 



need a fast loader but are thinking of 
upgrading to the C-128 in the near future) 
but I never got around to trying it out. 
The cartridge works with both the 1571 
and 1541 disk drives. The manual claims 
that it will also work with compatible 
drives but does not list the models. 

In 128 mode the cartridge functions 
with a 1571. a 1541 and a 1571 in 1541 
mode. In 64 mode the cartridge functions 
witha 1541 anda 1571, If a 1.571 is lock- 
ed into 1571 mode from 64 mode, the 
system locks up. No more double-sided 
disks in 64 mode! 

Along with the fast load, the Machl28 
supports wedge-type DOS commands. 
The standard directory, load, save and 
disk commands are included, as well as 
some unique commands that allow auto- 
booting of the first program on the disk, 
a fast format for 1541 drives (one of many 
claimed enhancements that did not work) 
and a drive rattle eliminator, for exam- 
ple. Non-DOS commands include ones 
that will open printer channels, unnew a 
program, and dump a screen to the 
printer. A menu of these commands can 
be called up at any time, and a hardcopy 
of the screen made for a reference sheet 
that is better organized than the manual. 
The set of commands is the same in 64 
and 128 modes, with slight variations. 

Within any mode of the computer 
Machl28can operate in three modes: fast 
load off, 'mach drive' on and 'warp drive' 
on. This is true for both 64 and 128 
modes. In 64 mode, mach drive promises 
an increase in load speed of 500 per cent, 
and an increase of 600 per cent with warp 
drive on (this results in the screen being 
blanked). In 128 mode similar increases 
are claimed when used with a 1541, and 
an increase is claimed even for the 1571 
through the use of burst mode. Modes are 
enabled through the use of Machl28's 
special commands, no sys's required. 

While all these features are nice, the 
crucial test of a fast loader is how fast it 
loads a program. This calls for the ever- 
popular benchmarks. In the case of the 
Machl28 cartridge, complete results 
could occupy a full page if all of the com- 
binations of modes were documented. 
Consequently, what follows are merely 
the highlights. 

The first discovery of note was that, 
with all respect to Kirk, Spock and Scot- 
ty, warp drive is a figment of some 
copywriter's imagination. No load dif- 



ferences were documented in com- 
parisons of warp drive engaged and warp 
drive disabled. The second fiction 
discovered was the effect of the Machl2S 
on 1571 load speeds. 30K loaded in 9 
seconds with or without the cartridge 
engaged. The cartridge did speed up load 
speeds with a 1541, from 82 seconds 
without the cartridge to 32 seconds with 
it, in both 64 and 128 modes. While this 
is an improvement, it is not the 500 per 
cent increase claimed. 

Another major concern with fast 
loaders is their compatability with soft- 
ware. With the C-128, compatabilitj' with 
the CP/M operating system software is 
a paramount concern. The Mach 128 
achieves this admirably. CP/M boots up 
without any alterations to the Mach 128 
system. It does not achieve compatabil- 
ity with other software so readily. I was 
unable to load many games in 64 mode, 
although the applications programs I 
tried worked fine, with increases in load 
speeds. In 128 mode, I experienced prob- 
lems with programs that had to be auto- 
booted. Others worked well, however. 

It is difficult to recommend this car- 
tridge. It doesn't live up to many of its 
claims, although it does have many 
unique and useful features. Most notably 
absent is a fast save routine , useful for 
both 1541 and 1571 saves. Nonetheless, 
I use this CEU"tridge every day, avoiding 
software that isn't compatible, and until 
a better one comes around, I will probably 
continue to do so. D 



Carrier Force 

from Strategic 

Simulations 

Naval combat simuiation 
for Commodore 64 



Review by Dave Dempster 

The area of naval combat offers, to my 
mind , an ideal opportunity for computer 
war gaming. Board games just do not ef- 
fectively simulate naval situations: either 
they oversimplify to the point of triviali- 
ty or, by aiming at complexity, they 
become so ponderous and cumbersome 
that only a fanatic would get to turn 3. 
These problems can be avoided in a well- 
written computer implementation. 



38 Issue 24 



Strateg:ic Simulations' Carrier Force 

covers the war in the Pacific in 1942-1944 
— a very promising period for gaming. 
Unfortunately, it does not go all the way 
in taking advantage of the computer's 
potential. 

Carrier Force offers four scenarios 
covering such campaigns as Coral Sea, 
Midway and the Solomons. The game can 
be played solitaire or against another 
player (though in the latter case it does 
require that the players not watch the 
screen when the opponent is plotting a 
move — hmmm). The game advertises 
that each ship, each plane and so on are 
represented in the game and, by George, 
they all appear to be there. 

Carrier Force operates in one-hour 
turns. For each turn you are successive- 
ly presented with radar reports (if any) 
and weather reports, and are then cycl- 
ed through menus that permit you to 
make decisions regarding fleet courses 
and speed, re-allocating fleet com- 
ponents, strike launch and aircraft 
preparation . The last phase requires you 
to steer your reconnaissance or strike 
missions to their targets hex by hex. The 
computer then carries out the attack if 
an attack force is in the area of a spotted 
enemy unit. An aircraft may fly unwit- 
tingly into an enemy area and be shot 
down by a nearby, yet presently invisible 
fleet. If you 'ready' aircraft, they will be 
prepared for launch next turn. 'The 'Are 
you sure?' question is asked just before 
you exit each menu — you cannot return 
after exiting. You must step through each 
menu, each turn. 

The graphics are only adequate, and the 
sound is limited — this obviously is not 
a shoot-'em-up. The game-aids provided 
are necessary and useful (a grease pen- 
cil is also necessary for your plot), yet I 
wondered why (considering my trusty 64 
in front of me) I had to manually plot 
sightings — yes, I know they did it in real 
life. I was permitted to do dumb things 
like launch aircraft to a target they didn't 
have the range to return from — it's a lit- 
tle disconcerting to see your last 
squadron make little splashes in the big 
Pacific. The rule book, as expected from 
SSI, is clear, complete and well written. 
The map display shows only a small seg- 
ment of the map at any one time, and 
scrolls as you move the cursor. 

Carrier Force is detailed and involved, 
and takes a long time to play. I got an- 
noyed at having to continually ready , turn 
to wind, launch and land CAP (combat air 
patrol). I was not amused at being pro- 
moted to Admiral of the Fleet to set Task 
Force make-up, disposition and course, 
then being demoted to Lieutenant and 



plunked into the front seat of a PBY to 
go look for the enemy. Carrier Force tied 
me up so much in details, such as tracing 
the path for each of those necessary recce 
aircraft each turn, that I began to lose 
sight of the overall strategy. The game 
is difficult to finish, though it does offer 
the option of saving the game each turn. 
The action, if one gets to it, can be in- 
tense, but is short-lived. There are those 
long periods of waiting, and waiting, 
and . . . 

If you've guessed that this game plays 
very much like a board game on a com- 
puter, you're not too far from the truth. 
So if you like a game with a lot of input, 
where you're personally involved in 
detail, you may well enjoy Carrier Force 
very much. I did not. D 



The Super-G 
Printer Interface 

from CardCo 

Printer interface 

for VIC 20, 

C-64and C-128 



Review by Greg Payne 

There is a wide variety of dot matrix 
printers on the market these days. Many 
offer excellent features: near letter qual- 
ity mode, boldface print, subscripts, 
superscripts, ex-panded print, condensed 
print, and many other little goodies are 
standard to a lot of these machines. 

Unfortunately, most use a communica- 
tions format that is not compatible with 
Commodore computers. This problem can 
be solved by using a printer interface. 
Tlie interfiice translates the printer codes 
coming fi'om your computer and changes 
it into a code the printer understands. It's 
like an interpreter that translates English 
into French. 

Cardco's Super-G is a new high-speed 
parallel printer interface for use with the 
VIC 20, C-64 and the C-128, with all the 
features of their G-Wiz interface and 
more. The Super-G is compatible with 
many popular printers, including Epson, 
Epson compatibles, Star Micronics, 
Panasonic, Okidata, NEC and the Smith- 
Corona Fastext-80. 

The Super-G is enclosed in a sturdy 
plastic case, but has open access to its 
eight recessed DIP switches (through a 
small window in the case). A long cable 
hooks up to the serial port on your com- 
puter or disk dnve, and a 36-conductor 



^=^1^^^^:^=:^^^= Reviews 

18-inch ribbon runs to the pritrter. I like 
the way the ribbon plugs in almost fiush 
to the back of my printer, keeping it out 
of the way of the paper feeder. 

Cardco states that with the Super-G 
you get true 100 per cent Commodore 
1525 printer emulation, liigh -speed opera- 
tion (up to two times faster than the G- 
Wiz on some graphics tasks), a 300 per 
cent larger graphics buffer and the full 
Commodore character set, including all 
reversed text and graphic characters. 

When I tested these claims on my 
Epson-compatible printer, I found that 
Cardco wasn't exaggerating a bit. I us- 
ed the sample programs that are includ- 
ed in the Super-G manual and got exact- 
ly the results that I was supposed to get. 
My printer did everything a 1525 can do, 
but 3 to 5 times faster. 

Hi -res screen dump programs designed 
for the 1525 that wei-e impossible to use 
before worked exceptionally well , and my 
Compute Mate CP80 whizzed along as 
though the programs were made for it. 
My printer also worked well with all my 
other text software that was designed for 
use with a Commodore printer. 

If you are writing your own programs 
that use a printer, you will like the way 
the Super-G can easily switch between 
different modes: normal print (line feed 
on^off), upper case only (line feed onyoff), 
hex, transparent and lock mode can be ac- 
cessed by using special secondary ad- 
dresses in open commands to your 
printer. By switching from normal 1525 
emulation to transparent mode briefly in 
a program, special printer functions uni- 
que to your printer can be turned on or 
off. 

The DIP switches are for different in- 
terfacing and printer functions. Four are 
for printer configurations; the others 
specify transparent mode, hex mode, auto 
line feed and device number (4 or 5). All 
of the DIP switches, with the exception 
of the printer device number, can be turn- 
ed on or off by using special commands 
from within a program . You can also tell 
what settings are currently being used by 
using a special Command Mode that lets 
you examine and change the current DIP 
switch settings. 

The Super-G has a special listing mode 
called Quote Mode . When a program is 
listed to the printer, instead of Com- 
modore's strange code symbols for things 
such as colour changes and ctu'sor 
movements, you get special listing 
characters on your printout that are 
much easier to understand. Programs can 
also be listed to the printer in hex. This 
is valuable when debugging hi-res graphic 
programs and could be useful to see 



TPUG Magazine 39 



Reviews ' •—'• ■ . -^ 

whether or not special function control 
codes are being sent to the printer. 

Another interesting feature is the Lock 
Mode. This lets you lock the interface in- 
to the mode you want. This feature comes 
in handy with a program — such as a 
word processor — that uses a printer file 
designed for your particular printer. Lock 
Mode can also be used to lock out any un- 
wanted secondary address commands 
that are sent to the interface by programs 
that were designed to be used only by 
Commodore printers. 

Super-G's manual is well written and 
easy to understand. Programmers will 
like it because it contains many example 
programs and tips for getting the most 
from their interface/printer combination . 
Most users will probably read it only once , 
to find the DIP switch settings for their 
printer. Once these are set, the interface 
pretty well runs on its own. 

I am very pleased with this product. 
The Super-G passed all of my tests with 
flying colours, and is an excellent printer 
interface with many useful features. D 



Broadsides 

from Strategic 

Simulations, Inc. 

Strategy game 
for Commodore 64 



Review by Dave Dempster 

'If only . . . ' are the two saddest words in 
the English language. I bought this game 
about a year ago with considerable an- 
ticipation. 'The Age of Fighting Sail', 
complete with sailing, gunnery and boar- 
ding — it sounded great! 

Make no mistake, I've probably played 
this game more times. , . Mind you, one 
game doesn't take too long. I then get an- 
noyed and leave it for a while. Then, with 
hope rekindled . . . 

The game permits you to select your 
scenario and set specific variables. As the 
game starts, you may input commands by 
scrolling the 14 available commands past 
the command display line, pressing the 
fire button to indicate that a command 
has been issued, and watching for the 
'Aye, Aye, Sir' which indicates its input. 
The scrolling is slow, and a little 
frustrating in the heat of battle — 
keyboard entrj' is a little less so. One good 
feature: the game does not permit you to 
change an order (such as a turn) until the 
present order is completed. A bad feature 
is the necessity to order fire for each 



salvo. You're permitted to tui-n , to shoot 
at sails or hull, and to choose the type of 
shot and either battle or full sail. The 
game determines wind speed and direc- 
tion, changing it randomly during the 
game — a not-so realistic feature. One 
strange item, manoeuverability (speed of 
turn), seemed to be unaffected by hull 
speed. 

The manual is fair: mine included data 
for other computers as well as my C- 64, 
In paragraph 8.5, HMS Victory seemed 
to be missing a full deck of guns. 

The graphics in the game are very 
good. You can see, for instance, the op- 
ponents being shot away during combat. 
As you get closer, the game shifts to a 
close-up mode. Movement is jerky, not 
smooth. 

There are eleven scenarios provided, 
and data and help are provided so that 
you can make and save four more of your 
own — a good thing, as some of those pro- 
vided are grotesque. One particular 
scenario matches the Victory and the 
Constitution. C'mon guys — Victory's 
first broadside at Trafalgar killed 400 
French sailors, dismounted 20 guns, and 
virtually crippled a well-built French 74 
(battleship) — against a frigate! Several 
of the more interesting single ship actions 
such as the Cheasapeake/ Shannon or the 
Essex/Phoebe (a battle between long gun 
and carronade) were not included. 
They're now on my disk, by the way. 

What don't I like? Too much! The most 
interesting and main manoeuvering (for 
the weather guage) took place before fire 
was joined. At that point, tactical 
manoeuvering was pretty staight- 
forward, because the largest number of 
my sailors were pretty busy on the guns. 
The ship scenarios only vaguely include 
those vital features of morale and state 
of training. The scale seemed \vrong, 
although I didn't crunch the numbers. 
The guess-the-range option (the computer 
always guesses right!) can, thankfully, be 
removed. The boarding aspect is horrible, 
as it consists of two stick figures 
thrusting and hacking while you play a 
'rock/scissors/paper' guessing game with 
your opponent to see who looses. I've 
been known to dump the program at this 
point. 

Dear SSI, you have produced some 
superb simulations. Wliy not consider an 
upgrade? Provide an approach option, 
perhaps with an enemy to be identified. 
Permit the use of all hands, or only one 
of either port or starboard watch for 
tasks, with requisite delays if only part 
of the crew is utilized. Perhaps you could 
add commands like those found in 'Com- 
bat Leader': prepare to repel boarders or 



shake out sail or beat to quarters or fire 
as you bear . . . Once ships were grappl- 
ed together, the captain has little input 
(apart from personal example) on the out- 
come . Perhaps he could leave gun crews 
still firing at the enemy ship, now im- 
possible to miss, and call up only one 
watch to repel the enemy — but chanc- 
ing loss of his deck and ship. 

Because of a lack of stern guns 
(mounted facing behind), this game often 
degenerates into a tail chase, with the 
computer following. That would be a 
disastrous tactic in reality: it would pre- 
sent the structurally weakest part of your 
ship to shots that would also pass the 
length of your ship, causing all sorts of 
distress and unrest. 

The concept of the game is good; its 
super, in fact, but the implementation . . . ! 
I cannot and will not recommend this 
game. I still, however, trot the darned 
thing out — what can I say? 

Broadsides, from Strategic Simulaticms, 
Inc., 888 Siierlin Road, Bldg. A-200, 
Mountain View, California 9iOJfS D 



VIC 20 Starter Book 

by J, Titus, C. Titus and 

D. Larsen 

from Howard W. Sams 
$15.95 (US). $22.50 (Cdn.) 



Review by Roger Surge 

Although it may be a bit priey, this book 
could be very helpful to the newer com- 
puter user. WTiile some sections deal with 
matters specific to the VIC (such as 
joystick registers), much of the informa- 
tion also applies to the Commodore 64. 

Elustrations are used frequently to aug- 
ment the well-written text as you are 
familarized with everything from how to 
connect your VIC to a TV, to what the 
keys on the keyboard do. From there the 
authors take you on a tour of BASIC that 
is not only easily understood, but will help 
you to appreciate the power of your VIC 
20. 

Tape files, debugging, sound, ac- 
cessories and computer care are ex- 
amples of the many other topics covered . 
Mind you, such very popular areas as 
printer control and custom graphics are 
either ignored or mentioned only briefly. 

Although this is not a substitute for 
Commodore's VIC 20 Programmer's 
Reference Guide, it is a very useful com- 
panion to the VIC User's Guide that came 
with your computer. D 



40 Issue 24 



-30.,''' 



-60.- 



/ 



THE 



\ 



69 



GOMMODtORE 






-■3C' 



HAMlSz 



^ 



98 



-128 



COMPANION 

yr . "K . V / 

180 

by Jim Grubbs 

QSKY Publishing 
$15.95 US, $2.50 postage 



-150 



Review by A. Vic Forde 

Thz Commodore Ham's Companimi by 
Jim Grubbs is written for dam radio 
operators interested in the concept of 
interfacing a Commodore computer with 
their radio. 

This paperback edition contains 160 
pages consisting of 14 chapters and 6 ap- 
pendices. The topics discussed range 
from the choice of computers and the 
selection of software to the actual inter- 
faces themselves. 

The author's experience has been with 
the VIC 20 — he uses three of them in 
his 'radio shack'. One is used for a 
'Message Storage Operation', another for 
'Slow Scan Television' and a third as a 
terminal for 'Packet Radio'. In the first 
chapter he discusses, in a cursory way, 
the possible uses of the various Com- 
modore computers including the new 
C-128. 

Chapters two, three and four are the 
key sections of the book. In chapter two 
the author attempts to discuss the 
transmission of data through the use of 
BAUDOT, ASCII and AMTOR. Unfor- 
tunately, too much of the subject matter 
is covered in too little space, resulting in 
a lack of in-depth discussion. A glossary 
of terms in one of the appendices is in- 
tended to replace any deep coverage. This 
means that the reader who is not already 
well versed in ham radio terminology' 
must continually refer to the explanations 
in the appendix. The chapter is fine for 
those hams who have considerable 
knowledge of the subject before reading 
this book. 

The author must have realized this 
shortcoming, because an eight-line ex- 
planation occurs between chapters three 
and four directing readers to the glossary 



if they find the terminology confusing. 
Unfortunately, many technical wTiters 
from the US use acronyms, short forms 
or individual letters in place of proper 
nouns. This technique can be confusing 
for those readers who are only vaguely 
familiar with the subject matter. 

Chapters three and four could save you 
considerable literature research: the 
author briefly describes many of the com- 
mon interfaces available, along with their 
advantages and disadvantages. A con- 
siderable quantity of information is 
crammed into these two small chapters. 

The chapter on Packet Radio is very 
descriptive and, for those hams who are 
not familiar with the subject, provides a 
good understanding of how it works. 

A valuable list of suppliers and 
distributors of software and interfacing 
equipment appears in appendix B. Of the 
83 suppliers listed, only two are in 
Canada and one of those is TPUG. This 
may be the reason why Canadian hams 
are not as involved with interfacing their 
computers to their radios as our 
American counterparts. 

The Commodore Ham's Companion is 
not a 'how to' book, but a compendium 
of information about the hardware and 
software available for interfacing a Com- 
modore computer with a ham radio 
transceiver. Despite some shortcomings, 
this book would be a worthwhile addition 
to a ham's reference library. 

The Commodore Ham's Companion, 

from QSKY Publishing. P.O. Box SOU, 

Springfield, Illinois 62708. D 



Koronis Rift 


from Epyx 


Action game 
for Commodore 64 



Review by Thomas Jones 

The plot of Koronis Rift is that you are 
a treasure hunter in the distant future , 
attempting to recover artifacts for profit 
from a planet once inhabited by an ad- 
vanced race, now vanished. They have 
left robot sentries to guard their property 
— deadly saucers that will make suicidal 
attacks on any intruder. You are equip- 
ped with a land crawler that has laser- 
type weapons to defend against the at- 
tacks, and advanced robots to help you 
recover treasures. 

The view of the hilly landscape through 
your window^ tosses in a more or less con- 
vincing way for a land crawler, and if an 



^===^=^ Reviews 

obstructing hill is too steep, you will stop. 
Nevertheless, navigation is not much of 
a problem and you can find the artifacts 
relatively easily, thanks to a radar-like in- 
strument that leads you right to the 
nearest alien structure (invariably some 
kind of crawler). Once you have reached 
your target, and have shot down all the 
pesky little saucers that show up, you 
send out your robot helper to loot the 
hulk, a scenario presented in a quite 
entertaining fashion. You must store the 
loot in an empty bin, and continue the 
search. 

While they can be challenging, keeping 
you on the edge of your seat gripping the 
joystick, the saucers are not inordinate- 
ly difficult to shoot down. 

Any time you are not under attack by 
the saucers, you can call the mother ship 
to 'beam you up'. Here another robot will 
ask you to select an artifact bin and move 
it to the conveyor belt. The robot will then 
examine the artifact, and with the help 
of a computer and instruments, announce 
the value of the item. You can either sell 
it or keep it, and move on to the next. If 
you keep it, your ship may acquire dif- 
ferent characteristics that will help you 
survive. If you dismantle and sell it, you 
gain points. The ship's robot is excep- 
tionally well done, and fascinating to 
watch. The animation of the robot using 
a computer is usually a hit with kibitzers. 

The game controls are icon driven; you 
pull straight back on the joystick and 
press the fire button to go into command 
mode from the drive/shoot mode, and use 
the joystick to highlight the command in 
red. 

You do not have to start from scratch 
each session: the Save command will save 
your position and score to the game disk. 
It will only save the last position, 
however, and only for one player. It does 
give you a way to keep most of your 
points if you get killed by going back to 
the last saved position. 

The game plot is not intricate ; nor is the 
best strategj' too difficult to figure out. 
I found the scenery and the repetitive 
nature of the artifacts grew a little 
tiresome after a few long sessions. It 
wouJ^^be especially nice if the artifacts 
were more varied and interesting. 

All in all, I would say Koronis Rift falls 
somewhere between an arcade shoot-'em- 
up with exceptional graphics, and the 
newer generation of simulation/strategy 
games. For some people it might serve 
as a transition towards more 
sophisticated games. 

Koronis Rift, $32.00 US (price approx- 
imate), from Epyx, Inc., 104s Kiel Court, 
Sunnyvale, California H089. D 



TPUG Magazine 41 



Paperback Writer 64 and 128 



Paperback Writer 64 
from Digitai Solutions 

Word processor 
for Commodore 64 



Review by Ian Wright 

Copyright © 1986 Ian A . Wright 

Paperback Writer 64 is the firsl at- 
tempt, to implement a WYSIWYG word 
processor on Commoiiore machinos.The 
term WTSIWYG is an iicronym for 
"what you see is what you get", and 
means that the text on your scrucn is 
Preformatted to look like the final 
printout. 

Paperback Writer 64 uses word wrap. 
If you set the margins at 10 and 70 spaces 
from the left edge of the paper, and you 
type 'supercallifragilistic' so that it ex- 
tends past the right margin, it will not be 
broken but will appear on the next line. 
If you ty])e in boldface, the screen 
displays the text in a brighter shade. 
Italics letters are slanted, and underlined 
text really is underlined. 

WYSIWYG does not mean that screen 
formatting commands are absent. It 
means that you cannot nee them en- 
screen. No longer do indented quotes 
start with: lni+ 10:rm-10:spl:fplO. 
Those commands (or their equivalents) 
are embedded in the text but are not 
printed to the screen. On the screen your 
quotation looks just like it mil on the final 
paper printout. 

How can you show 80-column margins 
on a 40-column screen? Two methods. 
After loading the boot program , Paper- 
back Writer 64 lets you choose from 
three separate programs: a 40-column 
version, an 80-column version, and a 
separate spelling checker. To move from 
one version to the other means exiting 
the current program and reloading 
another choice. There is no "Save this 
file?" prompt, and your current work will 
be lost if you have not saved it before 
exiting. 

Writing 80-column files in the 
40-colimin version of Paperback Writer 
64 is done through the use of a 40-coiumn 
screen window, which jumps sideways 
across the screen rather than using a 



smooth scrolling movement. 1 found this 
jumping movement nauseating after a 
short time and quickly learned that it was 
best to use the 80-column version of 
Paperback Writer 64 whenever possible. 
The 40-column characters, however, are 
easier to read, and the program's com- 
mands work more quickly because the 
screen does not have to be redrawn in 
hi-res. 

The 80-column version of Paperback 
Writer 64 uses a high resolution hit- 
mapped screen to display all 80 columns 
of text on the screen at one time. The 
characters are necessarily smaller and 
less distinct than the 40-column ver.sion. 
If you are not using a good monitor 
(eitlier colour or monochrome), the 80- 
column characters may be illegible. This 
problem is a hardware restriction in- 
herent in the Commodore 64, which was 
designed to be attached to a standard col- 
our TV and display 40 by 2!> text lines. 
Paperback Writer 64 has taken the hai'd- 
ware to its limits, because the 80-column 
video output is legible on a 1700-series 
colour monitor or a good monochrome 
monitor. 

If WYSIWYG were the only difference 
between Paperback Writer 64 and the 
other Commodore word processing pro- 
grams, Paperback Writer 64 would be 
a significant improvement for many users 
— but there are lots more features. 

Text entry and editing 

Paperback Writer 64 allows you to move 
the cursor around the text file in 14 dif- 
ferent ways — forward by word or back 
by screen for example . Screen width can 
be set from 1 to anything, and the screen 
scrolls its 40 or 80-column window across 
this width. I found that moving the cur- 
sor to the right or using the insert mode 
did not wrap around the right margin as 
I expected. If I inserted text into a fde 
with a right margin set at 75, the insert 
would carry on into coltmins beyond the 
margin until I reformatted the screen 
using the f6 ftinction key; an annojang 
quirk, since moving backwards doesn't do 
this at all. 

Some writers like to delete characters 
to the left of the ctirsor (called destruc- 
tive backspacing), while others like to 
suck up their errors from the right of the 
cursor. In Paperback Writer 64 you can 
choose the method you prefer using ctrl- 



e, which is a nice touch. Unfortunately, 
there is no undo feature in Paperback 
Writer 64, so anything mistakenly 
gobbled up is gone away to never-never 
land. 

Block functions like move, copy or 
delete use a memory range function and 
screen highlighting rather than text 
markers. I prefer this system for clarity 
and ease of use. There is, however, only 
one memory bank, which means that 
anything currently in the range memory 
will be destroyed if another range is 
selected. 

Search and replace is neatly imp- 
lemented in Paperback Writer 64, so 
that the command (logo-f) calls up both 
searching and replacing rather than hav- 
ing two separate commands as in most 
other word processors. The upper case 
(logo-F) version of this command means 
continue the search to find the next oc- 
currence. Generally speaking Paperback 
Writer 64 's commands are more easily 
learned than those of earlier Commodore 
word processors. 

Formatting features 

Formatting in Paperback Writer 64 is 

done by pressing the t5 key to call up the 
menu of format options. You can select 
one or more of the 18 options by moving 
the cursor and pressing return. You do 
not have to memorize 0F3 for offsetting 
the text 3 spaces, for example: just pick 
'printer offset' from the menu and type 
in 3. It's easy. 

Paging is usually a complicated func- 
tion in a sophisticated word processor like 
Paperback Writer 64, because you can 
have blank lines, blanks at the top of the 
page, titles, headers and footers, as well 
as your text. Paperback Writer 64 's 
manual uses a neat diagram to display 
and explain how each of these features 
relates to and affects the others, helping 
you to visualize the page format. The 
page length can be up to 250 lines, the 
lines per page up to 249, and the lines can 
be printed at 6 or 8 lines per inch. Other 
Ipi settings can be arranged by rewriting 
a printer file if you need them. 

Paperback Writer 64 gives you com- 
plete control over margins (fixed, 
relative, indented, or released), justifica- 
tion, left or right alignment and center- 
ing, and displays these paragraph for- 
mats on-screen just as they will appear 



42 Issue 24 



on paper. This is a tremendous advantage 
for people usin^r eomplicated formats. 
Similarly, it's easy to decide where to put 
hyphens when using right justified text 
because the 80-colutnn screen display can 
be edited directly (there's no automatic 
hyphenation). Paragraph spacing can be 
any integer — but you cannot u.se 1.5 line 
spacing, which I prefer for formal letters. 
Tabs default to 10 spaces apart, and can 
eiisily be reset to suit your needs. Paper- 
back Writer 64 has all the commonly 
used paragraph formats expected of a 
high-quality word processing program. 

Ck)lumn manipulation in Paperback 
Writer 64 is restricted to charts of 
numbers and/or text (you can't do 
newspaper-like columns of text output as 
with WP64), so the column commands 
are easier to use than those in most other 
Commodore word processors. You can 
align numbers, add numbers in columns 
or rows, add negative numbers (to sub- 
tract), sort lists of numbers or text in 
ascending or descending order — but you 
cannot move or shift a column using a 
block range. This is an unfortunate over- 
sight since I have used this feature in 
PaperClip more times than I care to 
remember wlien working with com- 
plicated charts of statistics. 

Foreign or special characters can be 
designed from scratch , or you can use the 
French set and the six additional 
characters that come with Paperback 
Writer 64. In either case, your defined 
character is displayed on the screen. It's 
nice to see gargon written correctly on 
the screen with the cedilla, but my Epson 
printer produced the wrong character 
despite double-checking I had loaded the 
correct printer file. I know how to fix the 
output, but the Epson printer file that 
comes with Paperback Writer 64 should 
work as is. This is another example of the 
problems associated with incompatibility 
among peripherals. 

If you want to display and print other 
characters (\\ke the English pound sym- 
bol) you can redefine up to ten characters 
using their ASCII value. You can even 
combine two characters into one (for ex- 
ample, 1=27 + 69 for emphasized print 
on the Epson). Unlike the optional 
underline and italics characters, which 
appear correctly on-screen, superscripts 
and subscripts are shown only by col- 
oured ranges in the C-Q4 version of 
Paperback Writer, I do like the ability 
to choose from one of four different cur- 
sors — block or underline shapes with 
each shape flashing or solid. The error 
bell can also be toggled on and off for 
those quiet sessions at 2:00 a.m. These 



are just some of many well-thought out 
features. 

Headers and footers can be more than 
one line long in Paperback Writer 64 — 
a useful feature for many administrative 
reports — and making one of these multi- 
line formats is really easy. The headers 
and footers can be set with different 
pitches and different margins from the 
rest of the text, and automatic page 
numbering is also part of the header and 
footer options. 

Files and printers 

Tlie text files in Paperback Writer 64 are 
held in memory so there's no wait while 
pages of text are drawn in from and writ- 
ten back to disk. But file size is still the 
weakest area of the program. It's not the 
fault of the designers or writers of Paper- 
back Writer 64, because the problem 
stems from the limited size of the C-64. 
Who would have thought that 64K was 
small! My first 32K PET was considered 
to have an immense amount of RAM in 
1980 when it was new. Today, however, 
even 64K is below the minimum re- 
quirements for productivity software, 
even when used in the home. By com- 
parison, 256K is a minimum RAM for 
most of today's business programs, and 
soon even 512K will not be enough to run 
the latest business software. Paperback 
Writer €4 in 80-column mode can 
manipulate a file of only 6895 bytes 
(that's less than 7K), less than my 32K 
PET could manipulate wth PaperClip in 
1983. The 7K translates to about 139 lines 
of 80-column text, or just under three 
pages of single-spaced output. For a stu- 
dent writing high-school essays, or a 
small business owner wanting to prepare 
a contract proposal, that's simply not 
enough without using a lot of linked files. 
The program has so many features and 
such extensive help available that there's 
little space left for text! Paperback 
Writer 64 does make using linked files 
easier by using a global mode to carry the 
established formatting and page location 
lietween linked files, but it's still not 
something that I'd like to have to do all 
the time. 

Disk operations are easy and varied in 
Paperback Writer 64. You can toad and 
save files quickly using on-screen menus 
and without retyping file names: just cur- 
sor to the name of your file in the on- 
screen (non-destructive) directory and 
press return. Y^ou can save your text as 
PRO, SEQ, ASCII files or even as files 
printed to disk. This covers all con- 
ceivable needs, whether you want to send 
files over a modem to other users of 
Paperback Writer 64, to other Com- 



' Reviews 

modore users, or even to non-Commodore 
machines. 

Paperback Writer 64 will not load 
from a 4040 drive because of the protec- 
tion scheme used on the disk. The manual 
and help screens in the program have ex- 
amples of multiple-drive use, and they 
work as advertised — after you load the 
program from a 1541 drive! 

Directories can be loaded from drive 
or 1, or from various single disk-drive 
device numbers. You can do complete 
pattern-matching of directories, and they 
will scroll up and down to help you quickly 
search for that elusive letter to the boss. 

The version of Paperback Writer 64 
that I have comes with 18 printer files, 
and my so-so experience vrith the Epson 
file is not necessarily true for the other 
printers listed. Rewriting a printer file is 
quite easy: just follow the step-by -step in- 
structions in the reference guide. (It must 
be easy — I made a special file for my 
daisy wheel printer without problems.) 

Special features 

One of the three options available from 
the boot program is to load the spelling 
checker. If you are writing a file you must 
first exit Paperback Writer 64, then load 
the spelling checker and follow the 
prompts. However, the spelling checker 
won't work initially because there's no 
dictionary! The spelling program will let 
you make a new dictionary disk (any idea 
how long it takes to add 30,000 words?), 
or you can buy the $19.95 dictionai-y disk 
with 32,000 words (and room for another 
8,000) that's available from Digital Solu- 
tions. You cannot use another manufac- 
turer's dictionary disk — 1 know, I tried. 
So if you want to check your spelling, it's 
best to put aside another $20.00 for 
Digital Solution's disk. 

Paperback Writer 64 has no built-in 
macro function to allow you to define a 
statement or a procedure, like defining 
the phrase Paperback Writer 6i as ctrl- 
a for example. Definitions are limited to 
one character. Footnoting is not sup- 
ported, nor are indexing or tables of con- 
tents, so the program may not be as 
useful for senior students or admin- 
istrators. However, few programs that 
for the C-64 have these kinds of features 
built-in. 

You can alter the colour of any of the 
eight screen displays (characters, 
backgrounds, and so on) using any com- 
bination of 16 colours. I prefer light grey 
on dark grey for 80-column work, but the 
extensive choice of colour combinations 
is a nice touch. The mail -merge function 
for generating form letters is well ex- 
plained and easily implemented in Paper- 



TPUG Magazine 43 



Revlefws =^==^= 

back Writer 64, making simple what 
could be a quite complicated process. 

The on-screen help function is very ex- 
tensive. You can call up help at any time 
by pressing f7 to get a 5-option menu. 
Select a number from 1 to 5 to see the 
sub-menus. If these don't cover your dif- 
ficulty, you can press f7 again and get 
context-related information from disk 
help files. To many people, this feature 
alone will make Paperback Writer 64 the 
word processor of choice for use on the 
C-64. Not all the functions of Paperback 
Writer 64 are in these files, however, so 
don't throw away the manual. 

Speaking of the manual , some parts are 
very well explained, but others are rather 
vague: 

Footers are usually set in the first 
paragraph. 

However, if you CHANGE A 
FOOTER in the first paragraph of a 
NEW page, the PREVIOUS page's 
footer also changes when it is 
printed. To ensure that the old footer 
prints on the previous page and that 
the new footer starts at the bottom 
of the new page, enter a forced page 
(see above) in the paragraph 
BEFORE the footer is changed. Do 
this by inserting a return arrow 
(blank paragraph) with a forced page 
immediately before the paragraph in 
which the footer changes — either in 
the new page or at the bottom of the 
previous page. 

Huh? After rereading a few times, the 
message becomes clear. But this kind of 
information might be better presented 
through a tutorial. The reference guide 
does not have any tutorial function, but 
does have constant references to the 128 
version of Paperback Writer 64 because 
the same manual is used for both versions 
of the program . I realize that this helps 
to keep the cost down, but it is perplex- 
ing enough even to those experienced 
with word processing. It will be very con- 
fusing to the neophyte user. 

Conclusion 

Paperback Writer 64 may be too com- 
plicated a word processor for an absolute 
beginner, but its help screens and menu- 
driven functions make it the simplest to 
operate of all the available sophisticated 
word processors for the home user. 
Paperback Writer 64 is not suited to the 
professional writer because of the limita- 
tions of the machine it runs on. 
Nonetheless, the program itself has a 
wide selection of functions that are well 
implemented. Is this the word processor 
for you? At $49,95, including reference 



guide , Paperback Writer 64 is definite- 
ly worth a close look, □ 



Paperback Writer 128 

from Digital Solutions 

Word processor 

for Commodore 128 



Review by Greg Payne 

Paperback Writer 128 makes full use of 
the new C-128 computer (in 80 column 
mode). It has all of the features of Paper- 
back Writer 64 plus many new ones of 
its own . The program automatically boots 
if it is in your disk drive (either a 1541 
or 1571) when the computer is turned on. 
If the 40/80 display key is up, you will get 
a menu on the monitor giving you two 
choices: a forty column Paperback 
Writer, or the Spelling Checker dic- 
tionary. If the key is down, you go right 
into the 80 column Paperback Writer 
128. In both modes all the new C-128 keys 
can be used, including the numeric 
keyboard . 

The forty column Paperback Writer 
128 is really a slightly souped-up version 
of Paperback Writer 64. It even puts 
your C-128 computer into 64 mode. The 
forty column program has approximate- 
ly 15K free for text. This isn't bad on a 
C-64, but pretty skimpy on a 128K 
machine. 

The Spelling Checker in Paperback 
Writer 128 is the same one as on the 
Paperback Writer 64 program disk. It's 
empty, and has to have the words added 
(a very time consuming chore). Since it's 
a C-64 program, it can only check small 
documents. 

I consider Paperback Writer 128 in 80 
columns one of the best word processing 
programs I've seen. As I stated earlier, 
it has all of the same functions as the C-64 
program, and more. If you've used the 64 
program, you will have no problem using 
Paperback Writer 128 because all of the 
commands are the same with the excep- 
tion of a few added features. 

The 80 column mode of the program 
uses RGBI or monochrome output to your 
monitor, and if you are using a 1902 or 
monochrome set, the characters are real- 
ly quite easy to read — I would say 100 
per cent better than the bit-mapped ver- 
sion on the C-64, A 1700-series Com- 
modore monitor can also be used with 
good results, by purchasing a special 
cable that allows you to hook up to the 
RGBI port on the computer. This cable 



is also needed for the monochrome 
monitor. 

Paperback Writer 128 in 80 column 
mode has 64Kof free text memory. This 
can be split into two 32K areas that can 
contain completely separate files. Cut- 
and-paste operations can easily be made 
between the tvvo file areas . The files can 
be printed, saved, loaded and formatted 
completely separately. This feature has 
many possibilities and should prove useful 
to many users. 

Superscripts and subscripts actually 
look like they're supposed to in 80 column 
mode. Superscripts are raised about a 
third of a line , and subscripts are lowered 
by the same amount. The other text 
enhancements (boldface, italics and 
underlining) are represented in the same 
way as on the 64 version of the program. 

The extra keys on the C-128 are all 
utilized. The esc key switches back and 
forth between the edit mode and the text 
formatting areiis. The tab key moves the 
cursor from tab stop to tab stop. Tabs can 
be placed wherever you like. The caps 
lock key shifts alt alphabetical keys into 
upper case. The help key is used to bring 
up help screens. The line teed key can 
turn line feed on or off if youi- printer file 
does not support auto line feed. If it does 
have auto line feed, double spacing 
results. All of the other keys have the 
same functions as they do in Paperback 
Writer 64. 

The ability of Paperback Writer 128 
to auto-boot is a nice feature. Users that 
have non-Commodore printers may think 
that this a problem because it doesn't 
allow them to lock their printer interface 
into transparent mode. The progi-ammers 
of Paperback Writer 128 have come up 
with a really good sohition. The lock com- 
mand can be included in your printer file, 
and when the program loads, it auto- 
matically puts the interface into trans- 
parent mode. Paperback Writer can also 
be manually booted by leaving the disk 
out of the drive until after the computer 
is turned on, and tj'ping boot. 

I have been using Paperback Writer 
128 for about three months now, and I 
think it's one of the top word processing 
progi-ams available for the Commodore 
128 computer. It's very easy to use (no 
strange formatting sjTnbols to memorize) 
and very powerful. I especially like the 
way the text formats itself right in front 
of you on the screen. No more spending 
half an hour trying to right-align an ad- 
dress in a letter, A couple of things I 
would like to see in the near future : a 40 
column C-128 version, and an 80 column 
C-128 Spelling Checker. Otherwise a nice 
product. D 



44 Issue 24 



Expand 

Past 

Maximum 

Capacity! 




At better book stores everywhere! Or 6 issues delivered lo your door 

for just $15 00 (Overseas $21 U.S. Air Mail S40 U.S.) 

The Transactor. 500 Sleeles Ave. Milton. Ontario. L9T 3P7. 

416 878-8438 

Also Check out The Transactor Disk and The Complete Commodore 

Inner Space Anthology - to us, expansion knows no limitsl 



LEROY'S CHEATSHEET 




COMMODORE 128 

KEYBOARD OVERLAYS 
DIE-CUT — PLASTIC LAMINATED 



Forgel about constantly refDrring back lo Ihe manual lor operalino commandt, 
Dtscover all Itic "specral" commands (juried m the manuals. 
LEROys CHEATSHEETS' are sturdy piBitic laminaled help sheets desrflrted for 
use wilh popular soKware. hardware and languages lor the C128 computer. 
Commands are grouped together lor iDgical use You learn and use your 
programs (aster and easier. 



FREE KEYBOARD EXTENDER 
WITH EACH ORDER (A $2.95 VALUE) 



only 

S795 

each 

O BASIC 7.0 

D BLANKS (SET OF 3) 
n DISK 1571 

Deasy script 

d fleet system 2*3 

Dpapeh clip 12a 

D WORDPRO 128 



us A CANADA (I do 
FCnEIGP4Or^DEnS&3 0D 
CHECK MO MtA-lSA 
US FUNDENOCOD 



X S7.95 - 

SHIPPING 
6% TAX 

[PA O^JL^^ 



1.00* 



EXPIRATION DATE_ 
NAME_ 



ADDRESS. 
CITY 



CHEATSHEET PRODUCTS INC. i 
P.O. BoiUlDSa Pgh., Pa. 1523B 

|412| 791-1551 ' 



"Cecil's 6502/6510 Conditional Macro Assembler" 

and "Assembly Language Source Code Editor" 

for Commodore 64® or Commodore 128® 

or Commodore SX64® 

A package of programming tools on one 5V, DISK created for every 
assembly language programmer 

Fully capable for the professional; ■"Cecil's Assembler' always EVALU- 
ATES THE WHOLE EXPRESSION. THEt>J RETURNS THE CORRECT 
HIGH/LOW byte". 

Cecil's Editor provides easy access to extensive on-line helpscreens for a 
variety of information aboul this assembler package. On-line tielp Oe- 
scribes the assembler syntax, pseudo-ops and macro instructions, and 
tfie editor com mandS- 

• Features 10 built-in macro inslwclions ro complete the branch or 
lump on cor^dilior^ inslruclior) sets. 

• Labels may be up to 13 characters in length. Alt 13 characters are 
considered signilicanl. 

• Includes lult-scrsen editor with enhanced DOS commarrds. 

• Nests macros to 32 deep. 

• Includes 10 pseudo-ops to control the assembly process. 

• Slops on error and/or identilies error typt and location. 

• Supports most printers and interlaces and allows multiple disk 
drives. 

• Prints its own instruction manual. 

ONLY '49.95 Cdn. or '34.95 U.S. by Check, Money Order, 
Visa or MasterCard to: 

NORTH OHIO FIRMWARE 

Box 2661 

North Canton. Ohio 44720-0661 

( ) English ( ) C64* 

( ) German [ ) C128* in C64« Mode 

( ) French ( ) SX64 

( ) Information $1.71 Cdn. S1.00US. 
Or Call 216/497-0736 from 9:00a.m. to 11:00p.m. EST. 

Cofr7modO{e64'. Commodore I?8- and Com/notfore SXG-f" ire registered 
trademarks ofCo/y'tTiodore Business Machines. 




SHOE BOX M: 97 GEIMEI=IAL ACCOUNTS • FULL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS • 
CALCULATES TAX. DISCOUNTS. AND CCA • LARGE ADDRESS DIHECTORV • 
PRORATES SHARED EXPENSES AND PREPAVIulENTS • TRAVEL 4 MEMO FILES 

CANADSAN PAYROLL 99 ElvlPLOVEES • 10 PAY TYPES • U DEDUCTIONS 
• CALCULATES UIC. CPP. TAX • TAX TABLES INCLUDED • UPDATES 
AVAILABLE • PRINTS PAYROLL. PAY CHEQues. PAY RECORD. T4's, 
EMPLOYEE LIST 

SOFTWARE INCLUDES: 

SOUND CUES AND 
HELP KEYS. AND A 
VEFIY FRIENDLY 
MANUAL 

FOR 

COMMODORE'S M 

AND i;e 

COMPUTEFiS. 
COMPATIBLE DISK 
DRIVE, AND 
PRINTER 



Send me: SHOE BOX II D 
CANADIAN PAYROLL □ 



Version G-64 $99.95 
Version C-128 129.95 
7% Tax (Ont. only) 

TOTAL $ . 



Prepaid Orders Only 



as 



JOHN DUNLOP & ASSOCIATES LTD. \^^ ^ 

R.R. US. ORANGEVILLE. ONTARIO L9W 2Z2 (519) 941-9572 



CHAFIGE MY VISA D OR MASTERCARD □ 



Calendar of TPUG Event& 



Meeting Places 

Amiga Chapter: The Amiga Chapter meetings are held in con- 
junction with the Westside Chapter meetings. 

Brampton Chapter: Brampton Public Library, Four Corners 
Branch, 65 Queen St., on the second Thursday of the month, 
at 7:30 pm. 

Business Chapter; The June meeting of the Business chapter 
has been cancelled. 

Central Chapter: The Centra! Chapter will no longer be 
meeting. 

COMAL Chapter: York Public Library, 1745 Eglinton Ave. W. 
(just east of Dufferin) on the fourth Thursday of the month, at 
7:30 pm in the Story Hour Room (adjacent to the auditorium). 

Commodore 128 Chapter: York Public Library, 1745 Eglinton 
Ave, W. (just east of Dufferin), on the first Wednesday of the 
month, at 7:30 pm in the Story Hour Room. 

Commodore 64 Chapter: York Mills CI, 490 York Mills Rd. (east 
of Bayview) on the second Monday of June, at 7:30 pm in the 
cafetorium. 

Communications Chapter: TPUG Office, 101 Duncan Mill Rd., 
Suite G-7, Don Miils, on the fourth Wednesday of the month, 
at 7:30 pm. 

Eastside Chapter: Dunbarton High School (go north on \\'hites 



Rd . from the traffic lights at Highway 2 and Whites Rd, to next 
traffic lights; turn left to parking lots) on the first Monday of 
the month, at 7:30 pm. 

Hardware Chapter: TPUG Office, 101 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 
G-7, Don Mills, on the second Tuesday of the month, at 7:30 pm. 

New Users Chapter: The June meeting of the New Users 
meeting has been cancelled. 

SuperPET Chapter: York University, Petrie Science Building 
(check in room 340). Use north door of Petrie to access building. 
On the third Wednesday of the month, at 7:30 pm. 

VIC 20 Chapter: York Public Library, 1745 Eglinton Ave. W. 
(just east of Dufferin), on the first Tuesday of the month, at 7:30 
pm in the auditorium. 

Westside Chapter: Clarkson Secondary School, Bromsgrove 
just east of Winston Churchill Blvd., on the third Thursday of 
the month, at 7:30 pm. 

TPUG makes every effort to ensure that meetings take place when 
and where scheduled. However, u7tforeseen problems may occa- 
sionally arise that lead to a particular meeting being changed 
or caneelied The TPUG meetiTigs line (H5-90U0) is tfie best source 
of fully up-to-date infortnation 07i meeting times, and should be 
consulted. 

Are you interested in organizing some other interest group in 
the Greater Toronto area? Please let Ike club office know, by mail, 
phone or TPUG bulletin board. O 



JUISE 




MON 


TUES 


WED 


THURS 




2 

Eastside 


3 

VIC 20 


4 

C-128 


5 




9 

Commodore 84 


10 


11 

Business 

(cancelled this 
month) 


12 

Brampton 




16 

New Users 

(cancelled this 
month) 


17 


18 

SuperPET 


19 

Westside-Amiga 




23 


24 


25 

Qittimunicalioiis 


26 

COMAL 




30 











Classifieds 



This space Is for the ads of TPUG members. Wanted 
or for sale items only. Cost is 25 cents per word. 
No dealer ads accepted. 

Wanted: Cymbal accounting software with instruction 
manual. 463-4736. 

For sale: VIC 20 manuals, software, 16K expander, Super 
Expander, 3-stat expansion board, and ViC modem. Phone 
Stuart at (204) 687-7146 after 7 pm. 

For sale: B-128 computer w/256K upgrade, 8050 disk drive, 
2031 disk drive, 4023 printer, USi amber monitor. 300 
baud modem, Gale Result, Superscript (3 copies), Super- 
base (3 copies). General ledger, A/R, A/P, Payroll . Inven- 
tory, 8-Term, 10 disks of utility programs, 2 VIC 20 com- 
puters, dataset, vicmodem, 5 cartridges, 6 books of com- 
modore programming, all cables and documentation. All 
for only $1500.00 (U.S.) Call Chuck (303)247-2260 after 

6 p.m. 



46 Issue 24 



Bulletin Board 



The Music Studio for Amiga 

Acti vision, Inc. has announced the release of an enhanc- 
ed and expanded version of The Music Studio for the 
Amiga. The Music Studio, designed by Audio Light, is 
a music composition tool which allows the user to create 
compositions, from an elementary tune to an elaborate 
fifteen-channel, three-verse score. The new version 
features pull-down windows for composition and editing, 
and advanced editing functions, such as commands to 
move, copy , repeat and transpose. Complete musical nota- 
tion includes time signatures, ties, rests, measure bars, 
sharps and flats. 

The Music Studio package contains a complete library 
of original musical compositions so that the user can hear 
and see the work of professional musicians. 

The Music Studio, released under the Activision 
Creativity Software laliel , was scheduled for release in the 
first quarter of 1986 with the suggested retail price of 
$59.95 (US). The program is also available for the Com- 
modore 64/128 on a two-sided disk disk at a suggested 
retail price of $34.95 (US). 

For more information contact: Activision, Inc., 2350 
Bay shore FVontage Road, Mountain View, CA 94043. 

BobsTerm Pro-128 

BobsTerm Pro-128 is a powerful, new communications 
package from Progressive Peripherals & Software. It is 
menu-driven and supports VT- 100 and VT-52 80 ADM-31 
(CP/M type) terminal emulation. Offering a full screen text 
editor and on-screen status display of the entire contents 
of the 60K buffer, BobsTerm Pro-128 allows the user to 
directly edit the files while it simultaneously reads, writes, 
uploads and downloads to any disk type (including CP/M). 

BobsTerm Pro-128 can be used in a remote mode 
transforming the computer into a mini-bulletin board 
system. The macro and answer back string functions can 
be used together. 

BobsTerm Pro-128 retails for $79.95. For more infor- 
mation contact Progressive Peripherals & Software, 464 
Kalamath Street, Denver, CO 80204, (303)82,5-4144. 

MOD Keyboard System for Handicapped 

MOD Keyboard System is a plug-in cartridge from Tash 
Inc. which enables physically disabled people to create 
numerous screen displays of characters, words and 
phrases, and computer commands. At present there are 
two versions of MOD Keyboard : elementary and advanc- 
ed. The MOD Keyboard System reqtures following items: 
a MOD Keyboard, either elementary or advanced; an in- 
put device chosen to best suit the user; a VlC-20; a Com- 
modore 14" colour monitor; and an interconnection kit for 
the host computer and Commodore datasette tape 
recorder. 

Elementary MOD Keyboard has been designed primari- 
ly for educational applications where an instructor, rather 
than the disabled user, would create or edit the screen 
pages. It is intended for severly physically handicapped 



students who require large letters and clear presentation 
of items. 

Elementary MOD Keyboard supports Apple I! Plus or 
Apple lie as host computers. Versions supporting IBM 
PC and Commodore 64 will soon follow. 

Advanced MOD Keyboard allows the disabled user, in 
schools and businesses, to operate the same computers as 
their able-bodied collegues, With the appropriate intercon- 
nection kit, any of the following "host" computers, and 
all standard sofiware normally operated from the 
keyboard of these computers, is accessible: Apple II Plus 
and He, IBM PC, C-64. Nelma Persona and any RS-Z32C. 

You can read about some of Tash Inc. adaptations for 
disabled in William Bennett's article Computer Aids for 
the Dimhled in July 1984 issue of TPUG Magazine. 

To get more information, contact Tash Inc. at 70 Gib- 
son Drive. Unit 1, Markham, Ontario, L3R 2Z3, (416) 
4475-2212. 

Miami 2064 CUG 

Miami 2064 Commodore Users Group informs its 
membei-s and other interested parties that Group's new 
address and telephone number are; 11531 S.W. 84 St., 
Miami. FL 33173, (305)595-8612. A bulletin board system 
was expected to t>egin operation in Mav. It's phone number 
is (305)279-8605. Miami 2064 CUG 'meets on the third 
Thui-sday of each month at the Sunset Congregational 
Church, 9025 Sunset Dr., Miami, FL. Meetings are from 
seven to apjiroximately nine at night, □ 

Commodore Canada appoints president 




Bruce Hampson, General Manager of TPUG, presents Rich 

Mclntyre with a framed cover of the March 1986 isstte of 
TPUG Magazine to commemorate Mr. Mclntyre's appoint- 
ment as President and General Manager of Commodore 
Biisiness Machines (Canada) Ltd., which took effect on March 
SI, 1986. Mr. Mclntyre was previottsly Vice-President of Sales 
for the Canadian operation. 



TPUG Magazine 47 




Applied Technologies 
Cheatsheet Products Inc. 
COMAL Users Group, USA 
Computer Rentais 
Computer Workshops 
Comspec Communications 
John Dunlop & Associates 
Electronics 2001 
The Guide 

Kobetek Systems Ltd. 
Lattice, Inc. 
Microcube Corporation 
Micro-W Distributing 
Midnile Software Gazette 
North Ohio Firmware 
Rainbow Eiectronics 
TPUG (Disk Subscriptions) 
TPUG (OS/9) 
TPUG (OS/9 Software) 
The Transactor 
Wilanta Arts 



5 

45 

23,35 

15 

15 

25 

45 

IPC 

IBC 

27 

BC 

32 

27 

27 

45 

27 

11 

7 

17 

45 

15 



TPUG Magazine 
Distributors 



Dealers: Ify<m wovXd like to carry TPUG Mtigazine in 

your store, you may order fiwn any one of the foUounng 
distributors: 

CANADA 

Master Media, Oakvilte, Ont. 416-842-1555 

Ingram Software, Concord, Out. 416-665-0222 

CompuJit Distributors, Port Coquitlam.BC 604-464-1221 

USA 

Prairie News, Chicago, IL 312-384-5350 

Levity Distributors, North Hollywood, CA 818-506-7958 

Whole Life Distributors, Englewood, CO 303-761-2435 

M-6 Distribution, Houston, TX 713-778-3002 

The Homing Pigeon, Elgin, TX 512-276-7962 

Fred Bay News Co., Portland, OR 503-228-0251 

Alonso Book & Periodical, Alexandria, VA 703-765-1211 

Cornucopia Distribution. Seattle, WA 206-323-6247 

Guild News. Atlanta, GA 404-252-4166 

Micro-PACE, Champaign, IL 800-362-9653 

Nelson News 4651 F Street, Omaha.NE 68127 

Michianna News, Ft. Wayne, IN 219/484-0571 

Total Circulation, South Haekensaek, NJ 201/342^6334 



TPUG Contacts 

TPUG OFFICE 416/445-4524 


TPUG BBS 416/273-6300 


TPUG MEETINGS INFO 416/445-9040 


Board of Directors 




President Chris Bennett 


e/o 416/445-4524 


Vice-President Gerry Gold 


416/225-8760 


Vice-President Carl Epstein 


416/492-0222 


Recording Sec. 




David Bradley 


c/o 416/445-4524 


Richard Bradley 


c/o 416/445-4524 


Gary Croft 


416/727-8795 


Mike Donegan 


416/639-0329 


John Easton 


416/251-1511 


Keith Falkner 


416/481-0678 


Anne Gudz 


c/o416/445-4524 


General Manager Bruce Hampson 


416/445-4524 


TPUG Magazine 




Publisher Bruce Hampson 


416/445-4524 


Editor Nick Sullivan 


416/445-4524 


Assistant Editors Tim Grantham 


416/445-4524 


Adam Herst 


416/445-4524 


Production Manager Astrid Kumas 


416/445-4524 


Ad Sales John Matheson 


416/445-4524 


Meeting Co-ordinators 




Brampton Chapter Jackie Bingley 


c/o 416/445-4524 


C-64 Chapter Keith Faulkner 


416/481-0678 


COMAL Chapter Donald Dalley 


416/742-3790 


Victor Gough 


416/677-8840 


Communications Darrell Grainger 


c/o 416/445-4524 


Eastside Chapter Nina Nanan 


c/o 416/445-4524 


Hardware Chapter Frank Hatchings 


c/o 416/445-4524 


Super PET Chapter Gerry Gold 


416/225-8760 


VIC 20 Chapter Anne Gudi 


c/o 416/445-4524 


Westside Chapter John Easton 


416/251-1511 


Al Farquharson 


519/442-7000 


Business Chapter 




New Users Chapter 




C-128 Chapter Adam Herst 


c/o 416/445-4524 


Amiga Chapter Mike Donegan 


416/639-0329 


Librarians 




COMAL Victor Gough 


416/677-8840 


PET Mike Donegan 


416/639-0329 


SuperPET Bill Dutfield 


416/224-0642 


VIC 20 Richard Best 


c/o 416/445-4524 


Commodore 64 Derick Campbell 


416/492-9518 


B-128 Paul AJtehison 


c/o 416/445-4524 


Amiga Mike Donegan 


416/639-0329 


C-128 Adam Herst (CP/M) 


c/o 416/445-4524 


James Kokkinen (C-128) c/o 416/445-4524 | 


MS/DOS Colin Justason 


c/o 416/445-4524 


TPUG Bulletin Board 




Sysop (voice, weekdays) Sylvia Gallus 


c/o 416/896-1446 


Assistant Sysop Steve Punter 


c/o 416/896-1446 




A Monthly Publication 

For 
Commodore™ Owners 



Commodore support with a twist . . . Personable and even humorous . . . Timely news . . . Helpful tutorials . . . On-going sup- 
port Tor several languages: BASIC (including BASIC 7.0 as featured in the 128 PC), Machine Language, COMAL, and Pascal 
. . . Program Listings . . . Honest software reviews. 



The Guide features some of the best computer humorists to be found. 

• Introduce your "widow" to the Computer Widow's Compendium. 

• Tutorials and feature articles by the famous Mindy Skelton. 

• Featuring Shelly Roberts' "I'm Sorry ... But I Don't Speak Hexidecimal." Discover why Shelly just 
may be the Andy Rooney of the computer world! 

We feel we have assembled one of the most talented staff of writers in the Commodore world. Receive each month the most 
friendly and helpful Commodore publication available. Written by Commodore users who are writing to you, not down at you. 

Limited offer - FREE With Each Subscription I 

Subscribe JSOW to capitalize on free software offer! 

Receive up to $99.85 in high quality software! 

With each year's subscription (or renewal) ordered, receive your choice of the software packages listed below, including the 
award winning educational games from Disney, or Omiterm Terminal written by our own Bob Richardson. 



Subscription 

One Year 
Two Years 
Three Years 



Rale 

'18.00 
'35.00 
'48.00 



Canadian • 

'24.00 (U.S.) 
'47.00 (U.S.) 
'64.00 (U.S.) 



Receive FREE 

Any software title listed below 
Any two of the titles below 
All three of the titles below 



* Noie: Canadian (and oiher foreign) subscribers must add $2 (U.S.) per program title to cover shipping and handling. No handling charge for 
U.S. subscribers. Canadian rates listed in U.S. dollars — send U.S. funds only, please. 



Donald Duclc's Playground 

CES Software Showcase A ward Win- 
ner! — Disney animation at its best! 
Children play four games to "earn" 
money to buy playground equip- 
ment. Builds money handling skills. 
Superb graphics. A bestseller! $39.95 
retail value. 



3808 S.E. LIcyntra Ct. 
Portland, OR 97222 



Winnie The Pooh 
In The Hundred Acre Wood 

— Players explore the Hundred Acre 
Wood to find lost articles like Ow'ls 
books, Pooh's honey pot and 
Eeyore's tail, and return them to 
their rightful owners. Cheery music 
from the Disney movie caps off this 
computer rendition of the beloved 
classic. $39.95 retail value. 



Omiterm Terminal Program 

— Written by 'JIU ^,'„.^ \ own Bob 
Richardson. Fully supports the new 
1660 Modem 300! (The ONL Y com- 
mercial terminal package that cur- 
rently fully supports the 1660!!! 

•Modem conlrols accessible from Ihe keyboard 
•Punier protocol — upload & download — 
300/1200 baud 

•Ten programmable function keys 
•15 number phone directory 
•20k receive buffer 
•Tone or pulse dialing 
•Auto dial/re-dial 
•Hair/full duplex 

A SI9.95 retail value. 



Don't delay — mail today! Supplies are limited. 



Name_ 



Address. 



City, State & Zip_ 



You are entitled to one FREE software package, as 
described above, for each year's subscription purchas- 
ed. Please list your second choice, as supplies are limited 
on the Disney titles! Please allow six to eight weeks for 
delivery. 

My first choice is: 



Enter My Subscription for: 

n 1 Year D 2 Years D 3 Years 



My second choice Is: 



Please Check One: D New D Renewal 



Software designed for AMIGA. 



Lattice C Compiler 



$149.95 



With more than .^0,000 users worldwide. Lattice C Compilers 
set the industry- standard for MS DOS software development. 
Lattice C gives you all you need for development of programs 
on the AMIGA, Lattice C is a full implernentalion of Kerniglian 
and Ritchie with the ANSI C extensions and many additional 
features. 

AMIGA C Cross Compiler $250.00 

Allows AMIGA development on your MS-DOS system, i^rice 
Includes the above product. 

Lattice Screen Editor (LSE "J $100. 00 

Designed us a programmer's viMlor, I.allice Screen l-.dilor(iSIi) 
is fast, flexible atid easy to learn. ISIi's multi-window en\in)n- 
meni provides all the editor functions you need including block 
moves, pattern searches and "cui and paste." In addition, I.SE 
offers special features for programmers such as an error track- 
ing mode and three As.sembly Language input modes. You can 
al.so create macros or cu.siomize keystrokes, menus, and prompts 
to your style and preferences. 

Lattice dBC HI Library'" $150.00 

The dBC HI Uhrarv lets you create, access and update files that 
are compatible with Ashton-Tates dBASE system. illiC Ill's C 
functions let you e.Ktend existing dBASE applications or allow 
your users to process their data using dBC III or dBASE III. 



Lattice Make Utility (LMK'") 



$125.00 



.\n auioniaied product generation utility compatible with t'Nl.V 
Make, l.ailice Make Utilily U.MK) lets you rebuild complex pro- 
grams with a single command. Once you specify the relation- 
ships of the various pieces of your system in a dependency file, 
LMK automatically rebuilds your system the same way every 
time, and only compiles program files that have changed. Bui 
LMK is not limited to updating programs. You can use LMK to 
update documentation or perform any executable command! 

Lattice Text Utilities'^ $75.00 

Lallice Text Uliltliesd.TU) consists of eight software tools to help 
vou manage your text files. GREP searches files for the speci- 
fied pattern. DII-T compares two files and lists their differ- 
ences. EXTRACT creates a list of file names to be extracted from 
the current directory. BUILD creates batch files from a previ- 
ously generated file name list, WC displays the number of 
characters and optionally the checksum of a specified file. ED 
is a line editor which can utilize output from other /./"f/ soft- 
ware in an automated l>atch mode. SI'L-\T searches files for a 
specified character string and replaces every occurrence with 
a specified string. And FILES lists, copies, erases or removes files 
or entire directory structures which meet the specified 
conditions. 



Lattice Unicalc* Spreadsheet $79.95 

Ufiicalc is a simple-to-operate program that turns your AMIGA 
computer into an electronic spreadsheet. Using Uniailc you can 
easily create sales reports, expense accounts, balance sheets, 
or any other reports you had to do manually. 
Unicatc offers the versatility you've come to expect from busi- 
ness software, plus the speed and processing power of 
the AMIGA. 

•H192 row by 256 column processing area • Comprehensive 
context-sensitive help screens • Cells can contain numeric, 
algebraic formulas and titles • Foreign language customization 
for all prompts and messages ■ Complete library of algebraic 
and conditional functions • Dual window capabilities • [''loat- 
ing point and scientific notation available • (Complete load, save 
and print capabilities • Unique customization capability for your 
every application • Full coinpalibiiity with other leading 
spreadsheets. 



Lattice MacLibrary' 



$100.00 



vThc Lattice Macl.ihrary"' is a collection of more than sixty C 
functions which allow you to quickly and efficiently take 
advatuage of the powerful capabilities of the .A.MIGA. 
Even if your knowledge of the .-LMIGA is limited, .MacLihrary 
can ease your job of implementing screens, windows and 
gadgets by utilizing the functions, examples and sample pro- 
grams included with the package. 

0\.\vif Mac I ■ihra}y routines are functionally com]>atible with the 
most widely tised Apple* Macinnish" Quickdraw Routines'", 
Standard File Package and Toolbox L'tility Routines enabling 
vou to rapidlv convert vinir Macintosh programs to run on 
the AMIGA. 

Paner $195.00 

Pane! will help you write your screen programs and layer your 
screen designs with up to ten overlapping images. I'ltitel'^. screen 
layouts can be assigned to individual windows and ntay be 
dynamically loaded from files or compiled inioa program. I'liiiel 
will output C source for including in your applications. .\ mon- 
itor and keyboard utility is also included to allow you to cus- 
tomize your applications for other systems. 



With Lattice prcnlucis you jjet lattice Semice including telephone sup- 
port, notice uf new products and enhancements and a ,^n-day money- 
back guarantee. Corporate license agrec-ments available. 



Lattice 



Lattice. Incorporated 
Post Office Box 3072 
GlcnEllyn. lllitM)is601.?fi 
(.•il2)8S8-"'950 TWX 910-291-2190 

r^T£k'^^AT/o^A/. sales offjchs: 

Benelux: Incs Dataconi (32)27205161 England: Koundhill (0672)54675 
Japan: Lifebuar Inc. (OJ ) 293-J~l 1 France: SH. 1 1 ) -1(3-66-1 1-55 
Germany; {49) TS-ilMSOO